Kabul, July 27: Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Monday that NATO troops had fired a rocket that killed 52 “innocent” villagers in southern Afghanistan, as leaked documents laid bare the civilian toll of the US-led war.
An investigation by the National Directorate of Security found that a house in Helmand province’s Sangin district was hit on Friday “by a rocket launched by NATO/ISAF troops, leaving 52 civilians dead, including women and children,” a statement from Karzai’s office said.
“The president condoled via phone with the mourning families and called on NATO troops to put into practice every possible measure to avoid harming civilians during military operations,” it said.
Karzai’s statement came three days after Friday’s attack on Regey village, and followed repeated denials by officials of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) that their forces were involved in the incident.
The statement said Karzai was “deeply saddened by the heartbreaking incident, which is both morally and humanly unacceptable”.
“The president and cabinet of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan condemned on Monday in the strongest possible terms the rocket attack on a village in Helmand province that killed up to 52 innocent civilians,” it said.
-PTI