Kabul: President Hamid Karzai attended a memorial ceremony today for three Afghans killed in an overnight raid by US forces, an incident Karzai has asked America's top military officer to investigate.

The American military has said that its forces killed three people targeted as "known individuals with al-Qaida links" during a raid December 17. Col Greg Julian said the "insurgents" had weapons and tried to fire on the US forces first.

Afghan officials say the three killed were innocent Afghans, and Karzai yesterday asked Adm Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to investigate the deaths.

The three killed were Amir Hassan, 40,his wife and a 14-year-old nephew, said Haji Balal Hassan, the brother of Amir Hassan.

Balal Hassan said that Karzai shared his condolences during the ceremony in eastern Khost province and asked for details of the incident.

Some 800 people attended the memorial ceremony. Karzai told the crowd he is working on the problems, but said for now the country needs foreign troops despite pleas from some in the audience for international forces to leave.

One young man in the crowd yelled out to Karzai, "Death to those who are killing Afghans."

Civilian deaths from military operations stokes deep anger in Afghans across the country, and Karzai for years has pleaded with international military forces to avoid such killings.
Source : PTI