Afghan president reacts to civilian deaths, bans NATO's night raids
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Kabul, May 28, IRNA -- The Afghan president on Saturday banned foreign troops night time raids blamed for civilian deaths and said that only Afghan forces may carry out special operations and night raids, not NATO troops.
In the new escalation of tension between the Afghan government and NATO forces over heavy bombardment of civilian areas and deaths of women and children, the Afghan president said that the international coalition should not proceed with any raids that have not been coordinated beforehand with the Afghan side.
President Hamid Karzai ordered the Defense Ministry to prevent foreign troops from uncoordinated and arbitrary operations and bring night raids under its control.
The president assigned the Defense Ministry that special operations and night raids must be independently conducted by Afghan troops.
The Afghan public, which has grown increasingly hostile to foreigners as the nearly decade-long war continues, tends to perceive the NATO raids as capturing the wrong people or mistreating civilians during searches of private homes and compounds.
Karzai repeatedly has criticized the raids, though this was his first tangible effort to stop them.
'Such operations most of the time have caused civilian casualties and the dissatisfaction of the Afghan people with the government,' he said.
'The raids go against the national interest of the Afghan people as they struggle against terrorism.'
IRNA reporter in Kabul said that the order came as Karzai left Afghanistan on Saturday for a six-day trip to Turkmenistan and Italy.
Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 30407303
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