US blames Taliban for Afghan civilian casualties

Crawford (Texas), May 21: The White House expressed concern about rising civilian casualties in Afghanistan but blamed Taliban fighters.

''You have to keep in mind that this enemy we're fighting part of their strategy is to put civilians in harm's way,'' said White House spokesman Tony Fratto.

U.S. and NATO troops are trying to defeat a spring offensive by the Taliban, but dozens of civilians have been killed in recent weeks in operations, according to Afghan officials.

''It's tragic that in the effort to provide peace and security in the country, that noncombatants and children become killed or injured in these activities,'' Fratto told reporters.

''We don't want to see any erosion of support from the civilian population in Afghanistan.'' The rising civilian deaths in Afghanistan were on the agenda for talks between President George W. Bush and NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who was arriving at Bush's Texas ranch for a working dinner with Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

More talks are planned for tomorrow followed by a joint news conference.

Besides Afghanistan, the leaders were likely to discuss Russian President Vladimir Putin's concerns about US plans to build a missile shield in eastern Europe.

Russia said this month it would no longer inform NATO states about movements of troops on its territory, freezing its commitments under the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty because of the dispute over the missile shield.

In Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai has urged foreign troops to avoid civilian casualties while hunting militants, to stop searching people's houses, and to coordinate attacks with his government.

But the growing death toll has triggered protests by Afghans demanding Karzai's resignation and the expulsion of American troops from Afghanistan.

Germany has called for a review of the way Western forces operate in Afghanistan.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force has some 37,000 troops in Afghanistan, around 15,000 of them from the United States, according to the Pentagon.

Reuters>