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Afghanistan's Karzai angry over US killings

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-11-11 10:44

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The deaths of 14 private security guards in a confused gunfight with US forces will widen the gap between Afghanistan and its international allies, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said.

Afghan men look at a vehicle which was damaged in a gunfight in Khoni Khowar in Khost province November 10, 2008. The governor of the eastern province of Khost said an air strike killed 14 Afghan security guards working for a road construction project. Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai urged Barack Obama to end civilian casualties in the "war on terror". [Agencies]

The US coalition said its troops shot at three vehicles carrying armed men in eastern Khost province Sunday only after its occupants opened fire on their forces.

Karzai, in a statement issued Monday, said those killed were private security guards working for a road construction company.

"Carrying out such attacks will only expand the gap between the people and the government of Afghanistan, as well as between Afghanistan and its international allies," Karzai said.

The US military said in a statement that after its troops stopped the three cars, the men inside "got out of their vehicles and fired on the coalition forces, who returned fire with rifles and helicopter gun fire.

"There were secondary explosions in the vehicles, and 14 armed men were killed. Numerous ammunition belts and small-arms weapons were recovered from the vehicles," the statement from the US military said.

The military said it has launched a joint investigation with Afghan authorities into the incident.

There has been a spate of incidents involving US coalition troops recently during which civilians were killed. These incidents undermine Karzai's standing among the people and turn ordinary Afghans against US and NATO troops.

Last week, the US said a joint US-Afghan investigation found that 37 civilians and 26 militants were killed during a battle between US troops and Taliban militants in the village of Wech Baghtu in the southern Kandahar province. The US has said the militants forced the Afghan villagers to stay in Wech Baghtu during the battle.

Karzai has long pleaded with the US and NATO to prevent civilian casualties. Last week he appealed to US President-elect Barack Obama to ensure that Afghan civilians are not killed in coalition operations.

A roadside blast hit a vehicle in western Herat province Monday, killing four people, including a local intelligence chief, a doctor and a prosecutor, said Noor Khan Nekzad, a police spokesman for the western region.