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Hamid Karzai - Source: Reuters -
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Afghan President Hamid Karzai met grieving relatives of
civilians killed by US air strikes in western Farah province and
confirmed an official death toll of 140, a senior official
said.
Karzai, who faces a presidential election in August, has taken a
strong stand on the deaths amid mounting public anger about the
cost to ordinary Afghans of fighting a strengthening Taliban
insurgency.
He has called for an end to all aerial bombings and told a crowd in
Farah that he would ensure aid for survivors and work to prevent
the loss of more innocent lives, Farah governor Rohul Amin
said.
The toll announced by the Afghan Defence Ministry last week makes
the bombing the deadliest incident for civilians since US forces
began fighting the Taliban in 2001.
It has fuelled public anger over the presence of foreign
forces.
"I know all the facts about you, and I am here to express my
deepest condolences in the loss of lives," Amin quoted Karzai as
telling a crowd of around 2,500 in the provincial capital.
The US military has acknowledged civilians died but put the total
at less than 100, saying the rapid burial of victims, many in mass
graves, made it impossible to give an exact tally.
Karzai later met with 14 representatives from the two villages hit
by the air strikes.
They travelled to the provincial capital Farah City to meet him
because their homes are in an insecure area where Taliban militants
are active, Amin said.
Karzai promised to rebuild houses destroyed in the attacks and pay
for the families of all victims to make the Haj pilgrimage to
Mecca, a requirement for all Muslims who are physically and
financially able.
The government said last week it had paid relatives of those killed
the equivalent of about US$3,324, and gave US$1,662 to the families
of another 25 people who were badly wounded.
Air strikes were called in after US Marines and Afghan security
forces became involved in a fierce battle with Taliban
militants.
The strikes hit houses that villagers say were filled with women
and children.
A copy of the government's list of the names, ages and father's
names of each of the 140 dead, showed that 93 of those killed were
children, 25 were adult women and 22 were adult males.
The Taliban toppled from power by US and Afghan forces in 2001 have
been gathering strength in recent years, particularly in the south
and east of the country.
US commanders are rushing in thousands of reinforcements in what
Washington considers a make-or-break year for a war it now views as
its main security priority.
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