Afghanistan: Obama regrets killing children

Kabul, Mar 3: In the corridors of power, the value of human life is not worth more than expressing regrets and offering condolences and that is what Barack Obama has proved again. The US president has expressed "deep regrets" over an air strike in Afghanistan that killed nine children.

In a statement issued by the President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, it is said that Obama offered his condolences during a video conference on Mar 2.

Describing the video meeting between the Presidents of USA and Afghanistan, a statement issued by the White House said, "President Obama and President Karzai agreed that such incidents undermine our shared efforts in fighting terrorism."

In recent times, civil casualties have increased manifold, complain Afghan officials and citizens. A minimum of four incidents of civil casualties in eastern Afghanistan have been reported in the last two weeks of Feb 2011.

US Lieutenant General David Rodriguez, has in a recorded television statement distrubuted through CDs, said, "On behalf of the coalition ... I want to offer my sincere apology for the killing of nine children in Dara-ya-Pech district in Kunar province."

He added, "The helicopters identified what they thought were insurgents, killing nine ... immediately we sent an assessment team, the assessment team confirmed the worst, we had made a terrible mistake."

OneIndia News