KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai spoke at a news conference from the presidential palace in Kabul on Tuesday warning NATO American forces and officials to avoid operations that kill civilians.
The warning comes after a NATO airstrike over the weekend mistakenly killed 14 Afghan civilians aimed at five insurgents who had ambushed a US Marine foot patrol that killed one of them then fired on the patrol inside a compound.
NATO released an apologetic statement after the attack that killed 14 civilians who were mostly children from ages 2 to 7-years-old.
Mr. Karzai called the deaths “shocking” and said in a statement that NATO and American forces have been warned repeatedly about their arbitrary and improper operations being the cause of killing of innocent people and said this is the last warning on behalf of Afghanistan’s people.
“If they continue their attacks on our houses, then their presence will change from a force that is fighting against terrorism to a force that is fighting against the people of Afghanistan,” he said. “And in that case, history shows what Afghans do with trespassers and with occupiers.”
A spokesman for the NATO-led military coalition said, “We are in agreement with President Karzai on the importance of constantly examining our actions in light of that reality — and we are doing just that.”
The White House said it was taking Karzai’s concerns “very seriously.” Nato and Afghan troops are looking into the incident.
Video – Watch Karzai’s news conference
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