KABUL: An end to air strikes in Afghanistan, demanded by President Hamid Karzai after scores of civilians were allegedly killed this week, would deprive Afghan troops of vital protection, a US official said Friday."Airstrikes are not acceptable," Karzai told U.S. TV on Friday during a visit to Washington, adding that his government's information was that nearly 125 to 130 civilians were killed, including women and children, in this week's strikes.The US military in Kabul was expected on Saturday to release the results of its investigation with the Afghan defence and interior ministries into the incident in the western province of Farah overnight Monday into Tuesday. The official told however they believed a figure of more than 100 people killed was "exaggerated". The air strikes in Farah were called in at the request of Afghan officials who were under attack from Taliban fighters, he said."This was not a night raid, this was not a scheduled operation, we came to their assistance," the official said on condition of anonymity. "We were supporting our Afghan partners." With an end to protection from air power, "more of the well-trained Afghan National Security Forces are going to be put in harm's way with very little assistance". There has been no admission from the US military that it killed civilians in the strikes, which locals said destroyed several houses in two villages in the Bala Buluk district where insurgents have a strong presence. A report in the US media, citing Pentagon officials, said US forces dropped about 13 bombs on eight different buildings" from which, troops were taking fire.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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