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Marine Gen. John Allen flew to Logar province to personally deliver his regrets to villagers and provincialofficials for the deaths of women, children and village elders inWednesday's pre-dawn raid to capture a Taliban operative. Afghan officials have said the airstrike called in by NATO troopskilled 18 civilians. "I know that no apology can bring back the lives of thechildren or the people who perished in this tragedy and thisaccident, but I want you to know that you have my apology and wewill do the right thing by the families," General Allen toldthe group of about two dozen Afghans gathered at a base at theprovincial capital of Pul-i-Alam . How well do you know Afghanistan? Take our quiz Nighttime raids on militants taking cover in villages have been arepeated source of strain between the Afghan government, which saysthe raids put civilians in the crossfire, and its internationalallies, who say such operations are key to rooting out insurgentleaders. A deal signed in April was supposed to resolve the issue by puttingthe Afghan government in charge of such operations, and the troopsinvolved in Wednesday's raid included Afghan soldiers. But Afghan President Hamid Karzai has put the blame for this week's deaths squarely on theinternational coalition, condemning their actions and calling forthem to give a fuller account of how small children were among thedead. NATO and Afghan officials have said the troops were on an operationto capture a Taliban leader who had holed up in the house in BarakiBarak district's Sajawand village. As they tried to breach thecompound, they came under fire and fought back, eventually callingin an airstrike. Villagers have said there was a wedding at the house the eveningbefore and that it was full of families visiting for thecelebration. The morning after the bombing, they piled the bodiesof the dead into vans and drove them to the provincial capital toprotest the airstrike. An Afghan doctor who examined the bodies and interviewed two womeninjured in the airstrike said a group of Taliban fighters decidedto spend the night in the house because they thought the weddingwould provide them cover. When NATO and Afghan troops startedadvancing on the house in the middle of the night, they called outfor any civilians to come out, but the insurgents didn't allow themto leave, said Wali Wakil. "The Taliban stopped them from getting out of the house,"Wakil said. He said the 18 dead civilians including four women, twoold men, three teenage boys and nine young children. Six Talibanfighters were also killed, Wakil said, citing the witnesses. Policehad said previously that the district Taliban commander was killed. Allen said that the troops did not know that there were civiliansinside the house when they called in the airstrike. "They were taken under fire. A hand grenade was thrown. Threeof our people were wounded. We called for the people who wereshooting to come out, and then the situation became more grave andinnocent people were killed," he told The Associated Press after talking with the group gathered in Logar. "Our weapons killed these people," Allen said. Hedeclined to confirm the exact death toll or provide more details onthe operation, citing the ongoing investigation. In Logar, Allen met with the governor before taking his message tothe assembled group of Baraki Barak residents and local officials.He invoked his own family, saying that he kept seeing the faces ofhis own children as he thought about the children who had beenkilled. ___ Associated Press writer Heidi Vogt contributed to this report from Kabul . The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China Optometry Instruments , Portable Pulse Oximeter Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit Hospital Furnitures today!
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