Nato defends Afghanistan tactics

Nato head Jaap de Hoop Scheffer says its forces are doing all they can to avoid Afghan civilian casualties.

After a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, he said that Nato forces had changed their procedure to reduce the threat to civilians.

The meeting comes amid growing concern in several member countries about the continued commitment to Afghanistan.

The UN too has expressed alarm at the number of civilians killed by international forces in Afghanistan

Nato's Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, referred directly to the increasing questions being asked about the Afghan deployment in some Nato member countries, saying there was a need to win hearts and minds back home.

More outspoken

But the issue of hearts of minds in Afghanistan was a more pressing concern for President Karzai.

The two men meet regularly and always talk about civilian casualties but President Karzai has now become much more outspoken under increasing local pressure on this issue. There was a protest rally in Helmand province on Wednesday.

Mr de Hoop Scheffer said Nato forces had changed their tactics to avoid killing civilians.

"The president [Karzai] and I also realise that civilian casualties are never entirely avoidable. But we have done a lot since we also saw many - too many - civilian casualties in adapting and changing our procedures."

Mr de Hoop Scheffer appealed for understanding on this issue and said there was no moral equivalent between the civilians killed by the Taleban and those killed by Nato.

He said that Nato needed to do far more to train Afghan forces to be able to take on the fight for themselves.

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