September 05, 2008	Friday	Ramazan 04, 1429

AZIZABAD (Afghanistan), Sept 4: Hundreds of Afghans gathered near a village bombed by US-led coalition forces to call on the government to punish those responsible for civilian deaths in the raid.

The Afghan government says more than 90 people, mostly women and children, were killed in the Aug 22, raid in western Heart’s Shindand district, an allegation backed by the United Nations.

The US military says its investigation showed five to seven civilians were killed in addition to 30 to 35 Taliban insurgents.

“There were no Taliban in the area, I don’t even have a weapon at home,” Sayed Ahmad, who lost his wife and two children in the attack, said. “We want President Karzai and the government to punish the guilty.”

Mr Karzai said he had spoken with George W. Bush about the incident on Wednesday and that the US leader had conveyed his regret.

Gul Ahmad, representing an estimated crowd of 1,000, said that false information about the presence of the Taliban in the area had been fed to the coalition forces which led to the raid.

“We want those people to be punished,” he said.—Reuters