By IRNA,
London : Britain’s Chief of the Defence Staff admitted Monday that the killing of 12 civilians in Helmand had damaged Operation Moshtarak’s efforts to win support of local communities in Afghanistan.
“It is a very serious setback,” Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup said after a rocket missed its target and hit a house in Marjah at the start of the biggest military offensive in Afghanistan since the 2001 joint US-UK invasion.
“We are there to provide security for the population,” Stirrup said, but insisted that accidents happen and “is not one which can’t be overcome.”
“It is crucial that they perceive the Afghan national security forces as protecting them, as providing them with security, and therefore we have to do all we can to eliminate civilian casualties,” the UK military chief said.
“This a very challenging operation. Time is important and it is going to take time for us to persuade the locals that they should be accepting the Afghan government,” he told the BBC.
Nato commander, US General Stanley McChrystal has already apologised for the killings after previously buoyant reports of the first 48 hours of the operation.
“It’s regrettable that in the course of our joint efforts innocent lives were lost. We extend our heartfelt sympathies and will ensure we do all we can to avoid future incidents,” McChrystal told Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
The offensive has been closely followed by the British press, but after reports of initial triumphs, military officials were warning that improvised bombs planted by Taliban fighters were slowing Nato’s progress in clearing insurgents in Helmand.
The deaths of three British soldiers since Saturday also overshadowed initial optimistic reports, although two were said to be unconnected to the Operation Moshtarak.
The latest killings bring the British death toll to nine in the first two weeks of February after six were killed in January. Last year the toll reached 108, more than double the 51 deaths suffered in 2008.