U.S. voices regret for +150 Afghan civilian deaths

06 May 2009 17:09:26 GMT
Source: Reuters
* U.S. brings Afghan, Pakistani leaders together

* Red Cross says dozens of Afghans died in U.S.-led raids

* Afghanistan, Pakistan sign deal on commerce

(Refiles to fix typo in paragraph 10)

By Sharafuddin Sharafyar and Arshad Mohammed

HERAT/WASHINGTON, May 6 (Reuters) - The United States offered its regrets on Wednesday for the deaths of Afghan civilians as it brought together the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan to get them to cooperate against the Taliban.

The Red Cross said dozens of Afghans died after U.S.-led airstrikes in Farah province this week while local officials said more than 100 civilians may have been killed, a figure which if confirmed would make it among the deadliest days for Afghan civilians since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

U.S. President Barack Obama was to meet Pakistan's Asif Ali Zardari and Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, amid U.S. doubts about both men's commitment and capability to tackle Taliban militants.

Civilian casualties caused by U.S. military operations in both countries, including drone strikes inside Pakistan, are deeply unpopular among Afghans and Pakistanis and have made it harder for both men to cooperate with the United States.

While the three-way talks aim to nurture cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which Taliban militants use as a base to attack Afghan targets, they have been overshadowed by U.S. concerns about nuclear-armed Pakistan's stability and by the death of civilians in Afghanistan.

"We deeply, deeply regret that loss," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said as she began a meeting with Karzai, Zardari, their aides and top U.S. officials including the heads of the CIA and the FBI.

'MY DEMOCRACY ... NEEDS NURTURING'

Karzai thanked Clinton for expressing concern and regret, saying he hoped all civilian casualties could be prevented, and he called Pakistan his country's "neighbor, brother, friend" despite their long history of mistrust.

In an effort to demonstrate their cooperation, Zardari and Karzai signed an agreement to try to increase commerce and foreign investment in the two countries.

Zardari, who has been under fierce criticism for his response to Taliban militants who have made inroads in the Swat and Buner valleys this year, also spoke warmly toward Karzai and pleaded for support for his fledgling democracy.

"My democracy needs attention and needs nurturing," Zardari said. "Pakistani democracy will deliver, the terrorists will be defeated by our joint struggle. Me, my friend, President Karzai and the United States ... will stand shoulder to shoulder with the world to fight this cancer and this threat."

Many Pakistanis blame the United States for undermining democracy in their country for decades by supporting and funding its powerful military.

Zardari is Pakistan's first civilian leader after nearly a decade of military rule by former Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, one of several generals who have run the country since its independence from Britain in 1947.

Pakistani security forces attacked Taliban fighters in the Swat valley on Wednesday killing at least 64 of them, the Pakistani military said, after the United States called on the government to show its commitment to fighting militancy.[nISL397163]

VILLAGERS MOURN

In Afghanistan, villagers mourned relatives buried in mass graves following the U.S.-led bombing in Farah province.

People who survived the bombing of houses packed with terrified civilians told Reuters dozens from one extended family alone had died. They wept as they spoke of orphaned children and burying their loved ones' fragmented remains.

The bombings, that lasted around an hour, killed 50 members of neighbor Sayed Azam's extended family, Azam told Reuters.

"There were Taliban in the area, and fierce fighting during the day but it ended when it was dark. People thought the fighting was over when suddenly bombings began," he said.

Rohul Amin, governor of Farah province, where the bombing took place late on Monday and fighting raged into Tuesday, said he feared 100 civilians had been killed. Provincial police chief Abdul Ghafar Watandar said even more may have died. (Additional reporting by John Whitesides, Paul Eckert, Sue Pleming; Editing by Simon Denyer and Frances Kerry)