90 killed as NATO hits Afghan fuel trucks

KUNDUZ: A NATO airstrike blew up two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban in Afghanistan on Friday, igniting a fireball that officials said killed between 55 and 90 people -- mostly insurgents.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who is leading the vote count in fraud-tainted elections, warned that targeting civilians was "unacceptable in any form" and his office put the number of dead and wounded at 90.

"Expressing deep sorrow for the loss of our compatriots, the president said targeting civilians in any form is unacceptable and emphasised that innocent civilians must not be killed or wounded during military operations," it said.

The overnight bombing saw NATO, the United Nations and Afghanistan launch immediate investigations, and revived controversy over civilian casualties in Western military operations, a frequent source of friction in the country.

Police and the interior ministry said up to 56 Taliban were killed and 10 more wounded, including a 12-year-old child when an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) air raid targeted the fuel tankers hijacked by insurgents en route from Tajikistan to Kabul.

But Mahbubullah Sayedi, a spokesman for the government in the increasingly unstable Kunduz province which lies on a supply route for the more than 100,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, said around 90 people were killed.

"Most of them are Taliban. It was an ISAF force airstrike. A small number of the casualties are local civilians, including a few children who had come to take free fuel," Sayedi said.

Civilian casualties during Western military operations are hugely sensitive and a major source of tension with the government.

Shoes, an AK-47 rifle, swatches of burned clothing, the carcass of a donkey with a woven saddle cloth and yellow plastic jerry cans lay scattered across the pebbled banks of the river next to two incinerated fuel trucks.

In nearby Yaqubi village, hundreds of mourners buried 18 bodies, some of which were burnt so badly the faces were unrecognisable.

Wounded people with extensive burns crowded a hospital in Kunduz, where witness Mohammad Daud, 32, said villagers rushed to one of the trucks when it got stuck in the river to take free fuel at the Taliban's invitation.

"Everyone around the fuel tanker died. Nobody was in one piece. Hands, legs and body parts were scattered everywhere. Those who were away from the fuel tanker were badly burnt," he told a foreign news agency.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen pledged to conduct a thorough investigation and was unable to rule out civilian casualties.

"The Afghan people should know that we are clearly committed to protecting them and that we will fully and immediately investigate this incident.

"Certainly, a number of Taliban were killed," Rasmussen said. "There is also the possibility of civilian casualties as well, but it is not yet clear."

The United Nations dispatched its own investigation team, expressing concern about reports of civilian casualties.

"As an immediate priority, everything possible must be done to ensure that people wounded by this attack are being properly cared for and that families of the deceased are getting all the help they need," said envoy Peter Galbraith.

The German army, whose soldiers are based in Kunduz under NATO command, said the airstrike killed more than 50 Taliban.

ISAF said it bombed two stolen fuel trucks spotted on the banks of the Kunduz river, saying a large number of insurgents were killed but expressing regret for "any unnecessary loss of human life".

"While the airstrike was clearly directed at the insurgents, ISAF will do whatever is necessary to help the community including medical assistance and evacuation as requested," said Brigadier General Eric Tremblay.

The incident came four days after the US and NATO commander in Afghanistan submitted a review into the nearly eight-year war, calling for a revised strategy to defeat the Taliban and reverse the country's "serious" situation.

General Stanley McChrystal's predecessor, General David McKiernan, was removed after airstrikes killed dozens of civilians in western Afghanistan.

The UN says nearly two-thirds of 828 civilians allegedly killed by pro-government forces in Afghanistan's conflict last year died in air strikes. Link...