Sep 17, 2009, 12:50 GMT
Kabul - Two weeks after a NATO airstrike killed dozens of people in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz, President Hamid Karzai on Thursday slammed the operation as 'wrong' but said it was not the intention of the German forces to hurt the civilians.
Meanwhile, Karzai's office said in a statement that according to findings of an investigation 120 people were killed and wounded the incident in Chardarah district, in which a German commander called for the airstrike on two fuel trucks hijacked by Taliban militants.
'The operation was wrong. It should not have been conducted,' Karzai said in his first public remarks about the incident.
'The incident was very unfortunate. We lost too many of our civilians,' Karzai said, adding, 'It could have been done through other means.'
At the same time, Karzai defended Germany's engagement in the country, saying 'Germany has no intention at all of hurting anybody, but on the contrary Germany is here to protect the Afghan people.'
'As far the intention of German officers, German troops and Germany is concerned, it is a old friend of Afghanistan and the Afghans know that very well,' he added.
According to the findings of an investigating team set up by Karzai, the airstrike killed 30 civilians and 69 Taliban insurgents and wounded 11 Taliban and nine civilians.
A foreign fighter belonging to the al-Qaeda terror network was also among those killed in the incident, the statement issued by the presidential palace said.
Karzai called on NATO-led forces in the country to try their best to avoid harming civilians during their military operations, the statement said, adding that the president also called the hijacking of fuel tankers, which resulted in deaths and injuries of people, as an 'inhumane act.'
Findings from two other probes conducted separately by NATO and the United Nations have yet to be made public.
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