LOC23:11
20:11 GMT
WASHINGTON, June 12 (KUNA) -- The US Defense Department said Tuesday it
would continue to conduct airstrikes aimed at civilian homes in defiance of
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's statement banning such action.
Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters in a briefing that the US
will retain its right to fire on residential compounds in Afghanistan in
"self-defense and force protection reasons", calling it "an inherent right and
we will retain that right."
Little defended the Pentagon's decision saying that the number of attacks
against civilian compounds is much fewer than air strikes directed at other
targets, following an attack by North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
forces on a civilian compound in Logar province, which killed 18 people
including children, teenagers and adults.
However, the U.S. agreed to impose certain limits on air-delivered
munitions.
Karzai declared on Tuesday that NATO aircraft can no longer fire on homes
under any circumstances after International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF)
said Karzai reached an agreement with US and NATO commander General John Allen
over the matter. (end)
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