Government investigating claims that children died in US operation

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Saturday that his government had launched an inquiry into allegations that US troops killed 11 civilians, including women and children, during a recent operation. The US-led coalition in Afghanistan has denied the claims made by local officials, saying that five adult males who had been attending a mid-level Taliban meeting were killed in Char Chino district of central Uruzgan province when troops fired from an aircraft. “We have sent a team from the Ministry of Interior to investigate this incident in Char Chino, Uruzgan,” Karzai said at his weekly press briefing. Karzai said the government had contacted Uruzgan governor Jan Mohammad who has said that four children and three women were killed in the US operation. “We have sent a team, he is our governor. When he says something of course, he comes from the ground, he knows what happens in Uruzgan,” Karzai said. The incident is the latest in a string of US operations during which 53 civilians have died in the past 12 months, with 15 children among those killed during two operations last month. —AFP

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