Afghan President Hamid Karzai has condemned a U.S. airstrike in western Afghanistan that some Afghan officials say killed more than 70 civilians on Thursday. The U.S. military disputes the number of civilian casualties and insists the operation was a successful strike against a wanted Taliban commander.
阿富汗总统卡尔扎伊谴责美国星期四在阿富汗西部的空袭，阿富汗官员说那次空袭造成70多名平民丧生。美国军方对平民死亡数字表示异议，并坚持说，这次对一名受到通缉的塔利班指挥官的空袭行动取得了成功。
President Hamid Karzai's office issued a statement Saturday strongly condemning what it called a "unilateral operation of Coalition Forces" in the Shindand district of Herat Province.
阿富汗总统卡尔扎伊的办公室星期六发表声明，强烈谴责“联军部队在赫拉特省辛丹德区的单方面行动”。
The statement said local political and security officials reported at least 70 people, including women and children were killed in the airstrike.
声明说，当地政府和安全官员报告说，至少70人在空袭中丧生，包括妇女和儿童。
The U.S. military disputes the civilian casualty figures and says troops called for airstrikes after a group of wanted militants fired on a joint patrol of coalition and Afghan forces.
美国军方对平民死亡数字提出质疑，说由联军部队和阿富汗部队组成的一支联合巡逻队遭遇一夥被通缉的激进分子火力攻击之后，请求实施空中打击。
U.S. coalition spokesman, First Lieutenant Nathan Perry, told VOA the troops were able to search the compound following the battle to confirm the casualty figures.
联军部队美方发言人佩里中尉对美国之音说，战斗结束之后，联军部队对受到空袭的院落进行了搜查，确定了死伤人数。
He says five civilians, who were believed to be related to the militants, were among the 30 people killed in the strike.
佩里说，有30人在空袭中丧生，其中有5名平民据信是激进分子的亲属。
"There was already a battlefield assessment of this operation," said the spokesman. "We want to point out that this was an Afghan army operation. Coalition troops were in support of the Afghan operation. And after the operation, those troops on the ground were able to do a battlefield assessment. Not only did they confirm that they killed 25 militants, they also confirmed the main target that they were in pursuit of."
佩里说：“已经对这次空袭行动做了战场评估。我们想要指出的是，这是一次阿富汗军队的行动，联军是支持阿军的行动。这次行动之后，地面部队进行了战场评估。他们不仅证实了他们消灭了25名激进分子，还确定了他们追剿的重要目标。”
The spokesman said despite the initial battlefield assessment, U.S.-led coalition forces have launched an investigation into the airstrike. Afghan officials have also called for an investigation.
这位发言人说，尽管进行了初步战场评估，美国领导的联军部队还是对这次空袭展开了调查。阿富汗官员也要求进行调查。
Civilians deaths from U.S. airstrikes are a contentious issue in Afghanistan and in recent months the Afghan government has been more assertive in publicly rebuking foreign allied forces for civilian casualties.
美国空袭造成平民死亡在阿富汗是个容易引起争论的问题，阿富汗政府近几个月对外国联军部队造成的平民死亡进行了语气更加强硬的公开指责。
President Karzai said Saturday that so far, Afghan efforts to stop civilian casualties have not had "desired outcomes." The president said the government will soon announce new initiatives for avoiding civilian deaths.
阿富汗总统卡尔扎伊星期六表示，到目前为止，阿富汗争取制止平民伤亡的努力还没有取得“理想的效果”。卡尔扎伊说，政府很快会宣布避免平民伤亡的新措施。
In the village in Herat where Thursday's airstrike occurred, hundreds of locals protested Saturday after rejecting offers of food and other aid from Afghan military troops. Local media reports said some of the protesters turned violent and soldiers fired on the crowd, injuring several people.
在星期四受到空袭的赫拉特省的这个村庄，数百名村民星期六举行抗议，他们拒绝了阿富汗军队向他们提供的食品等援助。当地媒体报导，一些抗议者后来开始使用暴力，阿富汗部队向人群开枪，有几个人受伤。 |