Kabul govt. blasts US attack on Afghan army
Iran Press TV
Mon Mar 10, 2014 2:9PM GMT
Afghanistan's Defense Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi has said a recent deadly US attack on an Afghan army base was arbitrary in nature.
Mohammadi made the remark on Monday during a briefing at the National Security Council at the presidential palace in Kabul.
He said the US military launched the operation without informing Afghan authorities.
At least five Afghan soldiers were killed and several others critically wounded in the last week's airstrike in the eastern Logar Province.
Mohammadi said the US-led forces have apologized over the raid and pledged to compensate the victims' families.
Ties between Kabul and Washington have already been tense over deadly air raids which have killed many Afghan civilians.
Thousands of Afghan civilians, including a large number of women and children, have been killed during night raids by foreign forces and CIA-run killer drone strikes.
The developments come at a time when the US and its Western allies have been pressuring Hamid Karzai to sign a controversial bilateral security pact but the Afghan president says the matter should be left to the next government after April elections.
The deal will allow the US to keep its forces in Afghanistan beyond the 2014 planned pull-out.
President Karzai has repeatedly said he won't be bullied into signing a security pact with the US. Karzai has also warned that he will not allow continued foreign presence if it means more bombs and civilian killings.
JR/AB
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