(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – NATO officials claimed that the Saturday raid in the Gardez district of Paktia Province had targeted a leader of an insurgent group, but the provincial governor’s office said it was an ‘arbitrary operation’ launched on the house of the Paktia anti-drugs chief.
“A national security council meeting held in the presidential palace on Sunday condemned the international forces night raid on the house of the Paktia counternarcotics chief, in which a woman was killed and four others wounded,” read a statement released by Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s office.
The attack came despite Karzai’s repeated calls on foreign forces to halt such operations. He has publicly criticized the US-led night raids over concerns that they endanger and harass local communities.
The commander of the international forces in Afghanistan, General John Allen, has said that the US military wanted to maintain its presence in the war-battered country beyond the agreed 2014 deadline.
