Khost: An Afghan government spokesman on Thursday accused NATO of killing six civilians, including an 11-year-old girl, during a military operation in the east of the country.
A demonstration broke out after bodies of the dead were carried through the city of Khost.
NATO said its troops killed insurgents associated with the Al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network during gunfights in the area, but it had no reports of civilian casualties.
“A teacher, a student, an 11-year-old girl and three other ordinary people were killed in the operation. They were civilians, innocent people,” said Khost provincial spokesman Mubarez Zadar.
“The coalition forces were given the wrong information and based on wrong information, they carried out an operation,” he said.
The provincial council said it had gone on strike in protest.
The deaths came as the United Nations said the number of civilians killed in the Afghan war in the first half of 2011 was up 15 percent, putting the year on track to be the deadliest in a decade. The disturbing rise in deaths came after the United States sent thousands of extra troops into Afghanistan and said levels of violence in the 2011 fighting season would be an indication of the extent to which it had worked.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday ordered an investigation into provincial government claims that a NATO raid killed six civilians in the restive east.
Government officials said the six, including an 11-year-old girl, died during a military operation targeting the Al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network.
NATO said its troops killed insurgents linked to the Haqqani network during gunfights in the area and that only one civilian was wounded.
But a demonstration broke out after bodies of the dead were carried through the eastern city of Khost and the provincial council announced it was going on strike in protest over the deaths. (AFP)