NATO forces acknowledged for the first time Tuesday that Afghan civilians were among the dozens killed in a German-ordered airstrike last week, while four U.S. troops died in a militant attack in the country's east, Associated Press reported.
Top NATO and U.S. commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal appointed a Canadian major general to lead an investigation into Friday's strike on two hijacked fuel tankers in northern Kunduz province. An Afghan official appointed by President Hamid Karzai to examine the attack said his best estimate of the death toll was 82, including at least 45 armed militants.
McChrystal on Tuesday banned the sale of alcohol at the military alliance's Kabul headquarters, after becoming frustrated when he had trouble getting in touch with some of his staff after the pre-dawn attack in Kunduz, said Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, a U.S. military spokeswoman.
Meanwhile, four American troops were killed in "a complex attack" in eastern Afghanistan's Kunar province, said Mathias. She did not give further details. The latest deaths bring to 11 the number of U.S. service members killed so far in September. Last month was the deadliest for American forces in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led invasion in late 2001 to oust the Taliban regime, when 51 troops died.
Fighting has intensified since President Barack Obama ordered 21,000 more troops to country this year, and controversy after the attack in Kunduz has re-opened the debate over how international forces conduct their operations. Taliban militants have used reports of civilian casualties to rally support among villagers angry at international forces.
McChrystal appointed a Canadian major general to lead the investigation - a delicate inquiry because the incident involved German forces ordering the airstrikes and U.S. fighter pilots carrying them out. A U.S. Air Force officer and a German officer are also on the investigating team.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday that her government won't accept "premature judgments" about the deadly airstrike in Kunduz. Germany's military has been criticized for calling in the strike and for initially insisting it appeared only militants were killed.
Merkel acknowledged the possibility that civilians were harmed, but she told parliament that the identities of those hit were still unclear because of contradictory reports.
On Tuesday, an Afghan official appointed by President Hamid Karzai to investigate in Kunduz said his best estimate of the death toll was 82, including at least 45 armed militants.
Lt. Gen. Mirza Mohammad Yarmand said it was difficult to determine how many of the rest were civilians or more militants, saying that the Taliban commander who led the hijacking, Abdur Rahman, apparently phoned supporters with tractors from surrounding villages to try to move the fuel tankers after they became stuck in a muddy riverbank. Other villagers reportedly came to collect the offer of free fuel.
McChrystal has said military officials could see about 120 people around the tankers when the airstrikes were launched. German officials have said they believed all were militants, but the decision to launch airstrikes appeared to run counter to directives from McChrystal to draw back from conflicts rather than risk civilian deaths.
In Kabul, McChrystal issued the order banning alcohol sales at NATO headquarters, where more than 2,000 officers and civilians work.
The prohibition was an effort to "limit distractions" rather than comply with Islam's ban on alcohol consumption, Mathias said. The sale of alcohol to Muslims is illegal in Afghanistan.
Mathias said McChrystal had been considering the ban for some time, but she conceded he expressed frustration early Friday morning after he had trouble getting in touch with some of his staff following the Kunduz airstrike.
The ban does not affect U.S. troops, who are already barred from drinking. Forty other nations participate in the NATO mission here, and some are more lenient than others when it comes to their alcohol policy.
Also Tuesday, a car bomber attacked an international convoy near the entrance to the military airport in Kabul. The chief of Kabul's criminal investigation department, Abdul Ghafar Sayadzada, said three Afghan civilians were killed and six wounded.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast, the third major attack by insurgents in the capital in four weeks.
No foreign forces were killed in the attack, Mathias said. The Belgian Defense Ministry said one of its soldiers was seriously wounded and that three others were lightly wounded.
The violence in the capital comes amid growing uncertainty over the outcome of the Aug. 20 presidential election. A U.N.-backed commission investigating the vote said Tuesday it had found "clear and convincing evidence of fraud" and that it was ordering a recount of questionable polling stations.
Widespread allegations of ballot-box stuffing and suspicious tallies are threatening the legitimacy of the election as the country awaits final results.