Kabul: United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates Monday apologised for the dearth of nine innocent Afghani children in a NATO airstrike.
He is in Kabul, the Afghan capital, to discuss the future of US involvement in Afghan war. His meeting is due with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, US troops and allied commanders during his two-day visit.
He said the US forces are ready to move from Afghanistan by July but it would remain in Afghanistan after 2014 for training.
Later this month, Mr Karzai will announce the schedule for the handover of security responsibility from foreign forces to Afghans.
The visit comes at a time of widespread anger towards the United States over civilian casualties.
On Sunday, President Karzai told Gen David Petraeus, the US commander of foreign troops in Afghanistan, that his apology for the deaths of nine children in a Nato air strike last week was “not enough”.
The president added civilian deaths were the main cause of a worsening in the relationship between Afghanistan and the US.
US President Barack Obama has also apologised for the killings, which he described as a “tragic accident”.
The boys, who had been gathering firewood, were mistaken for insurgents and killed by US helicopter gunships.
Hundreds of Afghans rallied on Sunday to denounce the killings. The protesters condemned both Nato and the Taliban for killing civilians.
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