Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Saturday that the US commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan had "promised" air strikes on residential areas would stop after apologising for recent civilian deaths. Karzai met General John Allen, commander of Nato's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), and US Ambassador Ryan Crocker days after a strike in Logar province, which Afghan officials say killed 18 civilians.
Allen "once again officially apologised for civilian casualties in Baraki Barak district" and "promised... not to carry out air strikes on public residential areas," a statement from Karzai's office read. The statement added that "after agreeing with the demands of the president" Allen had said Nato forces "will completely stop such operations". Karzai's comments came a day after Allen flew to Logar province, south of Kabul, to apologise over the deaths of civilians in an air strike on a home in the area in the early hours of Wednesday.