KABUL, 2 May 2005 — Alarmed by a rash of civilian deaths in US-led military operations, Afghan President Hamid Karzai yesterday urged coalition forces to use “extreme caution” as they root out militants. In a statement, Karzai expressed “concern about the occurrence in recent weeks of civilian deaths as a result of counterterrorist operations,” following the deaths of three people, including a woman and child, in a US airstrike on Friday.

Two Afghan children were also wounded in Friday’s strike on a militant camp in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan, a hotbed of the Taleban insurgency. The incident came less than a week after three civilians were wounded in eastern Nangahar province in a clash between militants and US troops.

The US military said in a statement this week that despite “careful planning” non-combatant casualties could not be prevented. In March, two children and a woman were killed along with a key Taleban commander in a firefight with US forces in southeastern Paktika province. A young boy was killed two days before that by US-led troops who were searching a village for a bomb-maker in eastern Afghanistan’s Kunar province.

Despite the civilian deaths, Karzai said he remained committed to coalition efforts in Afghanistan. “The government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan reaffirms once again its rock-solid commitment to the war against terrorism, and will continue to work with the international coalition against terrorism in pursuing and defeating terrorist forces in Afghanistan,” the statement said.

Earlier, the US military released more than 80 suspected Taleban militants from its detention centers in Afghanistan, officials said. Eighty-six prisoners were handed over to their families after being freed from Bagram Air Base, the main US base north of Kabul, and from another base in the southern province of Kandahar, a presidential spokesman said. It comes less than two weeks after the US released 17 Afghan prisoners from its military detention center at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. There were conflicting reports over exactly how many people had been released. “Totally 86 people have been released,” Abdul Wakil Omari, spokesman for the Afghan Supreme Court told AFP.

However, US military spokeswoman Cindy Moore said 85 prisoners had been released and returned to their homes in Afghanistan. “Eighty-five prisoners were released Sunday to Afghan authorities and government to be returned to their villages and tribes. They’re committed to support the Afghan government,” she said. Omari said 70 of the prisoners were released from Bagram while 16 others were freed from Kandahar air field military base in southern Afghanistan.

US forces in Afghanistan have been stepping up releases of prisoners who are not seen as security threats, in line with efforts to encourage reconciliation in the country. “The government is in discussion with the US authorities to work for the release of other prisoners who are not posing danger, both from here and from Guantanamo bay,” presidential spokesman Jawed Ludin said.