President Hamid Karzai accused the U.S. of killing seven children and a woman in a airstrike in central Afghanistan, AFP reports.
The incident could threaten a pending U.S.-Afghan agreement on whether U.S. troops are allowed to stay in Afghanistan after the U.S. combat mission concludes at the end of 2014.
{mosads}As a prerequisite to signing the agreement, Karzai has asked for an immediate end to all U.S. military operations on Afghan homes and villages.
“The Afghan government has been asking for a complete end to operations in Afghan villages for years, but American forces [are] acting against all mutual agreements… [and] have once again bombarded a residential area and killed civilians,” the statement said.
NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said in a statement that it was “aware of reports that at least two civilians were inadvertently killed today during an Afghan-led joint operation in Ghorband (Siahgird) District.”
“An enemy force engaged Afghan and coalition forces from several compounds,” it said. “Afghan and coalition forces returned fire and required defensive air support to suppress the enemy fire.”