Kabul, January 01: The top UN special envoy in Afghanistan has said he is concerned over the mounting civilian death toll in the landlocked country.
Kai Eide urged US-led NATO forces to make every effort to minimize civilian casualties in Afghanistan.
He was referring to the alleged killing of ten civilians at the hands of foreign troops on Sunday in northeast Afghanistan.
Military offensives in Kunar, which borders Pakistan, are being led by US Special Forces.
The victims, including eight school-children, were dragged out of their homes in the Kunar province and shot to death.
Eid’s comments come as the Afghan government has called on NATO to hand over the foreign troops responsible for the Sunday’s killing.
President Hamid Karzai on Thursday demanded that the US hand over gunmen who killed the children.
The coalition attack has sparked public outcry and prompted anti-US demonstrations, with protesters in Kabul, demanding that the US forces should leave the country.
Protesters strongly condemned the killing and warned of violent reaction by the public. The demonstrators torched a US flag and several effigies of US President Barack Obama over the past 48 hours.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said in a recent report that 2,038 civilians had died in the first 10 months of 2009 as a result of the US-led operations in the conflict-torn country.
Figures released by the United Nations indicate a 10 percent rise in the civilian death toll from the US-led war in Afghanistan with a good share of fatalities caused by foreign forces.
——Agencies