Kabul

UN report: Afghan opium cultivation decreases 19 per cent in 2008

UN report: Afghan opium cultivation decreases 19 per cent in 2008

UN investigation finds 90 Afghan civilians killed in US airstrike

Kabul  - A United Nations investigative team has found that 90 civilians, including 60 children, were killed in a US-led coalition air raid in western Afghanistan last week, the top UN envoy in the country said Tuesday.

The team "found convincing evidence, based on the testimony of eyewitnesses and others that some 90 civilians were killed," Kai Eide, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's special representative for Afghanistan, said in a statement.

Eide said the victims were 60 children, 15 women and 15 men while 15 other villagers were wounded in Friday's airstrike in Azizabad village in the Shindand district of Herat province.

Japanese aid worker kidnapped in eastern Afghanistan

Japanese aid worker kidnapped in eastern AfghanistanKabul- A Japanese aid worker along with his Afghan driver were kidnapped in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar on Tuesday morning, police said.

"The two men's vehicle was stopped by a group of unknown gunmen in Badyalai village in Khewa district," a police official who did not want to be named, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

"The Japanese aid worker and his driver were dragged out of their vehicle and were taken to an unknown location," the source said.

Afghan cabinet urges international presence "must be reviewed"

Afghan cabinet urges international presence "must be reviewed" Kabul  - The Afghan cabinet has demanded the presence of the international community "must be reviewed" while the government should also regulate the authority and responsibilities of the foreign forces in the country, a presidential statement said Monday.

The move by the Afghan ministers came three days after some 90 civilians, including women but mostly children, were killed in a US- led coalition air raid in western Herat Province.

Afghan villagers protest after civilians killed in Herat

Kabul - Hundreds of villagers in western Afghanistan demonstrated Saturday to protest the apparent death of scores of civilians in a US airstrike in Herat Province.

Karzai condemns killing of 76 Afghan civilians in US airstrike

Afghan President Hamid KarzaiKabul - Afghan President Hamid Karzai Saturday condemned the killing of 76 civilians, mostly children, by a US airstrike in western Afghanistan, and vowed his government would take necessary measures to curtail such deaths in the future.

The US military acknowledged in a statement that it was aware of the government's allegations of civilian deaths in the operation against Taliban fighters Friday in the district Shindand of western Herat province.

"All allegations of civilian casualties are taken very seriously," the statement said. "An investigation has been directed."

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