Tag: Civilian

KABUL - Afghan President Hamid Karzai urged a visiting United States (US) delegation on Tuesday to scale back night raids and military operations causing civilian casualties. The call came as he met John Boehner, US House Speaker, who is leading a six-member delegation from the House of Representatives that also visited Pakistan this week.
"The Afghanistan president said the people of Afghanistan highly appreciate the assistance given by the US in past 10 years but they want the

QUETTA - Two dead bodies found the other day in Panjgur area were identified while another dead body of a Baloch youth was recovered in the same area on Monday. The 2 dead bodies found on Saturday were identified as Mohammad Hasani, a resident of Dalbundeen and Mohammad Hussain Sasooli, the resident of Kharan district, police sources said, adding that the bodies were handed to the heirs.
Another dead body of Baloch youth was found in Chitkan area of Punjgoor by the local people

WASHINGTON - Special US Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Marc Grossman has expressed regrets over civilian casualties in Pakistan and thus took the first step to pave the way for resolving disagreement between the two allies after a drone strike in North Waziristan on March 17 killed several tribal elders.
Grossman insisted that the object of the US mission in Afghanistan and its cooperation with Pakistan was "protecting people and improving their lives,"

ISLAMABAD - US Senator John Kerry told President Asif Zardari in 2010 that the US might consider civilian nuclear assistance to Pakistan if Islamabad was able to enter into a security arrangement with India and also strengthens its democratic institutions, according to a memo released by WikiLeaks.
Senator Kerry told this to President Zardari in a meeting held on February 16, 2010, said the diplomatic memo sent to Washington by the then ambassador to Pakistan Anne W Patterson on

ISLAMABAD - Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Athar Abbas told a private TV channel on Sunday that the usage of funds in civilian departments should be streamlined instead of criticising the defence budget.
Abbas said that misleading propaganda was being spread under well-planned conspiracies about the expenses of the army. The conspirators were saying that the defence funds could be used for the prosperity of the country, he said.
Abbas

KABUL - Last year was the deadliest yet for civilians in the Afghan war with a 15 percent jump in the death toll, the UN said in a report on Wednesday which laid bare the conflict's impact on ordinary people. The 2,777 deaths underscore the level of violence in the country as foreign troops prepare to start handing control of security to Afghan forces in some areas from July ahead of a full transition due by 2014.
Insurgents were responsible for 75 percent of all civilian

ASADABAD - Afghan President Hamid Karzai angrily criticised foreign forces Wednesday on civilian deaths, warning against daily killing after officials said nine children died in an air strike. Karzai told the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, which has 140,000 troops fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, that it could face "huge problems" if mistaken civilian deaths did not stop.
His statement came after an Afghan police chief said nine children died in an air

KABUL - Afghan lawmakers demanded on Wednesday the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan be brought before parliament to explain a spike in civilian casualties they say is hindering peace efforts. Afghans angrily denounced two recent incidents in eastern Kunar province in which they said more than 75 civilians were killed, about half of them children, and called on General David Petraeus, commander of the 150,000 International Security Assistance force (ISAF) troops in

KABUL - International forces admitted Wednesday that they accidentally killed nine Afghan civilians in an air strike while their commander, General David Petraeus, said he was "deeply sorry for this tragedy." Petraeus said he has ordered all helicopter crews to be re-briefed on the need to keep civilian casualties "to the absolute minimum" and warned that troops could face disciplinary action over Tuesday's attack in Kunar province.

ISLAMABAD: On his return from China, President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday said Chinese leaders had committed full assistance to Pakistan in the field of civilian nuclear energy.
The president was talking to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, who called on him at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.
An official statement issued after the meeting stated, "The current situation in the country and the recent visit of the president to China came under discussion."
An official privy to the