Parliament condemns civilian deaths in Khost

KABUL): Lower house of parliament on Saturday condemned civilian deaths during an operation by a joint Afghan-international security force in southeastern Khost province on Wednesday.

Six civilians, including women and children, were killed in the Afghan forces led operation in Tora Wori area of Khost district on Wednesday evening, according to local officials.

ISAF said it has initiated a joint incident assessment team to assess the incident.

On Friday, President Hamid Karzai ordered an investigation into the deaths, directing the provincial governor to submit him a report in this regard.

It was for the second time that civilians were killed in a military operation. On June 9, a nighttime operation in the Doa Manda district of the province was resulted in the deaths of 13 civilians.

The Wolesi Jirga in a statement said all the dead and wounded in the two operations were civilians. It said that killing Afghans in every corner of the country could not be a mistake.

The statement called on foreign troops to immediately stop such operations and that every operation should be Afghan led.

The statement also asked the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the international troops to investigate the two incidents and share the findings with lawmakers.

Mir Bat Khan Mangal, a legislator from Khost, said that the people killed and wounded in security operations in his province were local civilians.

Another lawmaker from the same province, Kamal Nasir Asuli, also confirmed that the victims were civilians.

He said that the provincial council office had been closed in protest against the killings.

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