Karzai says Afghans lose patience over killings

By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL (Reuters) - President Hamid Karzai warned on Wednesday that Afghan patience was wearing thin over the killing of civilians by Western forces hunting Taliban guerrillas, saying further deaths would lead to bad consequences.

Around 50 civilians have been killed in raids by U.S.-led troops in the past week, Afghan officials say, sparking four days so far of anti-American, anti-Karzai protests.

"We can no longer accept civilian casualties. It is becoming a heavy burden," Karzai told reporters at his heavily fortified palace in the capital, Kabul, when asked about the killings.

"It has become too hard for us."

Protesters have called for the removal of Karzai for failing to stop the killings, which are an increasingly sensitive issue in the face of an upsurge in Taliban attacks.

A former government minister, Hamidullah Tarzai, said the current small protests were not yet a major problem for Karzai, but they would become more serious if killings continued.

Karzai said he had repeatedly told U.S. and NATO commanders to coordinate their anti-Taliban raids with his government, stop searching civilian houses and exercise caution to avoid civilian deaths.

"Unfortunately, that cooperation and coordination as we tried it has not given us the result of what we want," Karzai said, adding that the Afghan people's tolerance was being tested.