Red Cross backs reports of Afghan civilian deaths

The U.S. military has already said it will conduct a joint probe with Afghan authorities, and a team was dispatched today to the scene in the Bala Buluk district of Farah province, which borders Iran. A U.S. brigadier general was taking part in the investigation, U.S. officials said.

Villagers said dozens of people — including women, children and elderly men — were killed while sheltering in crowded civilian compounds as fighting raged in the area Monday. About two dozen insurgents were thought to have died in the confrontation as well. Provincial officials Tuesday put the number of dead around 70.

Civilian deaths on the battlefield are among the main sources of friction between the Karzai administration and the West.

Over the past year, Karzai has used increasingly sharp language to decry civilian deaths and injuries that occur during confrontations between Western forces and insurgents. Coalition commanders have altered some battlefield rules in response and say they take all possible precautions to avoid harming noncombatants.

Western officials also point out, in frustration, that insurgents often target civilians in suicide bombings and other attacks, and that the militants deliberately place them in harm’s way.

More than seven years after the Taliban movement was toppled by a U.S.-led invasion, the Afghan president, who faces an election challenge in August, has criticized the effectiveness of U.S. efforts to subdue insurgents and rebuild the country.

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