Afghan leader visits site where US-led strikes hit wedding

AFGHANISTAN: Afghan President Hamid Karzai flew Thursday to a remote village to commiserate with families of 47 civilians killed when US-led coalition air strikes hit a wedding party, his office said.

The president, who rarely travels in Afghanistan because of the threat from extremist insurgents, flew to Deh Bala near the border with Pakistan by helicopter and met more than 100 tribal elders for two hours, it said.

“I have not come here today to make political speeches, I have come to share your grief,” he told the gathering according to audio copies handed to the media, who were not invited to the event. Karzai also met relatives of the victims — mostly women and children — of the July 6 strikes which the coalition has said killed only militants.

The president said his government would send to Mecca the head of every family that had lost someone. A Muslim is expected to make the pilgrimage if they have the means.

He also promised land to those affected by the strikes, according to the audio copies.

One of the elders, Abdul Satar, said ordinary people had become a “shield” in the fight between insurgents and government. “We have become a defending shield against terrorists.

Jalalabad, Friday, AFP