Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
International
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
NATO air strike a "major error": Afghan president
Mon Sep 7, 2009 2:02pm EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL (Reuters) - A NATO air strike believed to have killed scores of Afghan civilians was a major "error of judgment" by German forces, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in an interview published on Monday.
Karzai, who is closing in on a first-round victory in a presidential election held last month, also revealed in the interview strained relations with the United States, saying criticism of his friends and family was intended to undermine his own position and make him more malleable.
Germany again defended the decision of its commander in the area to call in the raid last week and brushed off suggestions restrictions it places on its soldiers had prevented them from approaching the scene and from fighting ground battles.
"General (Stanley) McChrystal telephoned me to apologize and to say that he himself hadn't given the order to attack," Karzai told French newspaper Le Figaro, referring to the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Berlin has warned against hasty judgments of the deadliest operation involving German forces since World War Two.
The strike, in which a U.S. F-15 fighter jet summoned by German troops bombed fuel trucks hijacked by the Taliban, has become a big domestic issue in Germany weeks before elections.
"Why didn't they send in ground troops to recover the fuel tank?" Karzai said in the interview with Le Figaro.
German Defense Ministry spokesman Thomas Raabe on Monday said the decision to order the strike was based on information that indicated the presence of armed Taliban near the tankers.
"STRIKE RIGHT DECISION"
He rejected suggestions that a German reluctance to shoot first in combat was behind a decision not to send ground troops to secure the fuel trucks, which were parked in a riverbed.
"Based on the information we have, we believe this strike was right and the suggestion that we are not capable of fighting (ground) battles is ridiculous," said Raabe at a news conference where he was grilled for more than an hour.
"You must realize we are talking about the middle of the night, with special visibility conditions, where we don't know what the enemy is planning. Therefore I think the decision that was made at the time was absolutely correct," he said.
In a first independent estimate of the death toll, a prominent Afghan rights group said up to 70 civilians had been killed in the strike in Char Dara district of Kunduz province.
Afghanistan Rights Monitor (ARM), a non-governmental group funded by domestic rights campaigners, said it had reached the figure based on interviews with residents in the area.
"Preliminary reports received by ... ARM indicated 60-70 non-combatants died," said the Kabul-based group. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
Israel authorizes new settler homes in West Bank
Audio Slideshow
Painted for battle
The U.S. military is clean cut and clean shaved so tattoos are a way for soldiers to express themselves. Reuters photographer Tim Wimborne documents some of the artwork on display in Afghanistan. Blog
Full Coverage: War in Afghanistan
More International News
Israel authorizes new settler homes in West Bank
Iraq bombs kill eight, wound 28
Iran rules out talks on its nuclear "rights"
Three British men guilty of airline bomb plot
Libya rules out payments to IRA victims' families
| Video
More International News...
Video
Kabul rocket strike kills three
Play Video
More Video...
Related News
Merkel to give Afghan speech, outcry over airstrike mounts
10:32am EDT
Q+A: Civilian casualties in Afghanistan
6:45am EDT
FACTBOX: Security developments in Afghanistan, Sept 7
10:32am EDT
Featured Broker sponsored link
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
"Capitalism is evil," says new Michael Moore film
Senator eyes insurer fee for health reform plan | Video
Iran rules out talks on its nuclear "rights"
Kraft primed to sweeten $16.7 billion Cadbury bid | Video
Once high flyers, Lehman traders grounded at Mizuho
U.S. leads world in foreign weapons sales: report
Abu Dhabi to buy Chartered; Hynix stake up for grabs
Airline bombings were just days away - UK police
Recession drives U.S. restaurateurs, diners to trucks
Karzai says United States wants to manipulate him
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Hong Kong acid attack injures 11
Optimism over U.S. healthcare reform
Trouser-wearing woman spared lashes
Six missing in mystery flood
Troops help return Xinjiang calm
S.Koreans accuse North over flood
Macedonia ferry disaster
Hundreds saved from sinking ferry
Leaders sacked after Chinese rioting
Thousands stage anti Chavez protests
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Labs |
Journalism Handbook |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.