Karzai "very serious" on ending air raids

By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai is very serious about a demand for foreign forces in Afghanistan to halt air raids, even though it was rebuffed by a top U.S. security official, his spokesman said Monday.

Afghans are furious about the bombing of two villages in Western Farah province during a drawn-out battle last week, when bombs hit homes crowded with civilians, some of them children.

In a sign of growing public unhappiness, lawmakers on Monday demanded legal restrictions on foreign forces fighting in their country, then closed for half a day to protest the attack.

A day earlier, hundreds of Kabul university students had marched against the killings, chanting "death to America."

Karzai, who went on U.S. television to demand an end to all air attacks, has put the death toll at up to 130 people. If his figure is confirmed, it would be the biggest such case of Western forces killing civilians since they invaded in 2001.

His plea was rejected by White House National Security Advisor James Jones, who said the United States could not be expected to fight "with one hand tied behind our back."

U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates, in comments to reporters at the Pentagon Monday, echoed and endorsed Jones' remark, but said, "There is a tremendous effort going on, on our part, to try and avoid civilian casualties.

"The fact of the matter is, civilian casualties since January in Afghanistan are down 40 percent over a year ago during the same period," he said, adding that U.S., Afghan, and ISAF casualties were up 75 percent during that period.