KashifAsrar
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NATO Says Attack Killed Civilians in Pakistan
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: June 25, 2007
KABUL, Afghanistan, June 24 The NATO force in Afghanistan said Sunday that its soldiers, in pursuing Taliban insurgents on Saturday, had unintentionally chased them across the border into Pakistan, and it confirmed that NATO bombing and helicopter fire caused the deaths of several Pakistani civilians.
Pakistani military authorities had earlier placed the civilian death toll at 10.
NATO did not confirm or deny that total. But Maj. John Thomas, a NATO spokesman, said it appeared that the alliances forces had hit a way station or house that contained civilians.
We regret the loss of life, and we certainly want to make it clear that we did not knowingly operate across the Pakistani border, he said.
NATOs statement comes a day after Afghanistans president, Hamid Karzai, chastised the United States and its allies for the careless use of military force.
This past week, more than 100 civilian deaths have been reported from airstrikes and artillery fire.
On Sunday, the Taliban seized 18 mine-clearing experts and four of their mine-sniffing dogs in Ghazni Province.
A Taliban spokesman said the captured men were suspected of working for American-led forces in the country.
Our investigation is ongoing, and after the investigation we will decide what to do, said Mullah Safiullah, a Taliban commander quoted by Reuters.
Afghanistan remains one of the most heavily mined nations in the world, a consequence of nearly 30 years of unrelenting warfare.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/25/world/asia/25afghan.html