KABUL — Afghan President Hamid Karzai Tuesday said NATO had agreed not to carry out air strikes on residential areas even in self-defence, apparently contradicting comments made by senior coalition commanders.

NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) ordered an end to air strikes on homes except as a last resort to ensure the defence of troops, Lt. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, deputy commander of US forces, said Monday.
The order came after General John Allen, the head of the coalition force, flew to Logar province, south of Kabul, to apologize over the deaths of civilians, including women and children, in an air raid last week.

But at a news conference on Tuesday, the Afghan leader said the agreement did not allow air strikes even in self-defense.At least 80 feared
dead in quakes
An earthquake in Afghanistan triggered a landslide which buried mud homes in a mountain village and rescuers feared at least 80 people had been killed, provincial officials said on Tuesday,

Two quakes with magnitudes of 5.4 and 5.7 struck mountainous northern Afghanistan Monday, bringing a slide of mud and rocks down on the remote settlement.

The governor of Baghlan province said 22 homes were buried but the bodies of only two women had been recovered. Twenty people were in hospital with injuries.

“We don’t think we will be able to take out the other bodies,” Governor Abdul Majid said.

A rescue team only had one bulldozer to try to clear the rubble, he said.
“We will hold a prayer for the victims.” — AFP