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.
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in
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