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US Bombs Kill 100 Civilians In Eastern Afghanistan Village
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| U.S. Bombs Kill 100 |
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 31 (IslamOnline & News
Agencies) - Almost 100 civilian people were killed when U.S. warplanes bombed a
village in eastern Afghanistan, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) said Monday.
The Pakistan-based news agency quoted a witness as saying the planes hit the
village of Niazi Qala, 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Gardez in Paktia
province, Sunday morning.
It said many houses were destroyed in several
bombing raids. Some 92 bodies had been recovered and the toll could go higher,
the agency said, reported Agence France-Press (AFP).
There were no Al-Qaeda or Taliban members in
the village, the witness was quoted as saying.
An official of the local tribal shura, or
council, said U.S. soldiers had been invited to witness the damage caused by the
raid.
There has been no official comment from
Washington on the report, according to BBC's online news service.
The United States has been waging a fierce war
on Afghanistan since October 7, targeting Osama bin Laden, the man it accuses of
masterminding the September 11 attacks.
Earlier this month, U.S. warplanes attacked a
convoy of vehicles in the same province and killed up to 60 people.
Survivors said the convoy was carrying tribal
leaders to the capital, Kabul, for the swearing in of Afghanistan's new interim
government, but the Americans claimed it was a legitimate "Taliban or Al-Qaeda"
target.
Meanwhile, an Afghan official said Monday that
the issue of adherence to the Islamic code held up the expected signing of a
deal on deploying foreign peacekeepers in Afghanistan.
"Last night, we would have signed the agreement, but it did not happen
because of two articles in this agreement," said General Deen Mohammad
Jurhat, an interior ministry official responsible for public security.
The question of adhering to the Islamic code
held up the deal, he said.
"Afghanistan is an Islamic country and
Afghanistan's laws are Islamic,” said Jurhat. "For example, drinking
alcohol and also sexual affairs is usual in the countries the troops come from.
They must obey Afghanistan's laws."
Meanwhile, Britain's defense ministry said
Monday that a final agreement had been signed on the deployment of foreign
troops in Afghanistan, confirming earlier reports from sources in Kabul.
A spokesman told AFP the military-technical agreement "has been initialled"
by Britain's Major General John McColl, in the Afghan capital.
It was "a small step forward," he
added, saying the agreement would now be sent to other nations contributing
troops to the international security force (ISAF) for their signature.
That was expected to occur in the next two
days, after which final details of the composition of the force would be known.
Earlier, in Kabul, a British embassy source said
McColl and Afghan Interior Minister, Yunus Qanooni, had approved the agreement
for deployment, although the formal signing ceremony would be at a later date.
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