WASHINGTON/KABUL, 1 January— US warplanes killed over 100 people in a raid on a village in eastern Afghanistan, residents said yesterday, as British and Afghan officials signed a deal yesterday to put an international security force on a legal footing ahead of the New Year. Also yesterday, British troops arrived in the Afghan capital to take up peacekeeping duties.
At least one fighter jet, a B-52 bomber and two helicopters on Sunday morning swooped on the village of Qalaye Niazi, about four kilometers north of the city of Gardez, capital of eastern Paktia province, villager Janat Gul told reporters. Paktia province is where US forces have been carrying out operations against remnants of Al-Qaeda network and Taleban fighters still on the run.
In Washington, Maj. Pete Mitchell, a spokesman for US Central Command, said: "We are aware of the incident and we are currently investigating." Another US military spokesman admitted that some civilians could have died in the raid, but insisted that the nightlong bombardment had been necessary. "It is well-known to us that there were Al-Qaeda Taleban leadership (in the village), that is why we attacked the compound," said Maj. Bill Harrison. "We feel it was a legitimate military target."
The agreement on the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a victory for the international community’s attempts to return stability to Afghanistan after the downfall of the hard-line Taleban regime. But controversy over US tactics in the hunt for Osama Bin Laden and the remnants of his Al-Qaeda group, which is accused of planning the Sept. 11 attacks on US cities, once more overshadowed peace efforts.
News of the attack came just one day after Kabul’s new interim government backed away from earlier calls for the bombing to be abandoned and gave the green light for further raids to flush out Bin Laden and his supporters. Washington has vowed no respite in its campaign until Bin Laden, his allies and other "terrorist groups with global reach" are defeated — but the extremist has proved elusive, amid claims he has fled to Pakistan.
Afghan Interior Minister Yunus Qanuni and British Maj. Gen. John McColl, who is to lead the international force, finally signed a deal on the deployment. "The initialing of the Military Technical Agreement is a really significant step for the deployment of ISAF," McColl told reporters. "It has been reached with positive negotiations with the interim administration and with their full support."
The deal was held up by weeks of haggling over an array of questions including
whether the foreign troops would be held to Afghanistan’s Islamic law, and will give the UN-mandated ISAF formal status. The multinational force will number between 3,000 and 4,000 troops to help provide security as the new government of interim leader Hamid Karzai tries to rebuild the nation after the ouster of the Taleban militia.
Around 70 British personnel arrived in Kabul, the first reinforcements for the 200-strong British contingent already patrolling the capital with Afghan police and providing visible support to Karzai’s new administration. The new convoy also brought in medical officers and supplies, an AFP reporter saw. The arriving staff included female personnel.
British military sources said some 17 nations would provide a reconnaissance party numbering up to 40 officers to assess what contribution they can make to the force, which will not be at full strength at least until late January.
Gen. Deen Muhammad Jurhat, a senior Afghan public security official, said the peacekeeping deal would have been signed Sunday evening if not for the issue of whether Islamic law would apply to the troops.
"Last night we would have signed the agreement but it did not happen because of two articles in this agreement," he said.
"Afghanistan is an Islamic country and Afghanistan’s laws are Islamic," he explained. "For example, drinking alcohol and having sexual affairs are usual in the countries the troops come from. They must obey Afghanistan’s laws." Britain will lead the force for the first three months of its six-month deployment in Afghanistan. An advance party of up to 250 German troops is expected to arrive here sometime late this week or next.
The Defense Ministry, headed by Gen. Muhammad Fahim, says the bombing should end as soon as possible while Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah said on Sunday that "the campaign will continue for as long as it takes to finish the terrorists".
There are also tensions within the administration, headed by Karzai, over the role of foreign forces on Afghan soil.
