Afghan President Hamid Karzai has warned NATO that launching airstrikes on houses while targeting militants will not be allowed, as he continued to press U.S. and NATO forces about civilian casualties.
President Karzai said Tuesday the Afghan people can no longer tolerate the attacks, and that the U.S.-led coalition risks being seen as an "occupying force" if the bombings continue.
The comments come a day after the Afghan leader issued what he called his "last warning" about civilian casualties.
NATO has apologized for the deaths of nine civilians killed Saturday in an airstrike in Helmand province. Afghan authorities say the strike hit two houses and killed 14 people.
A White House spokesman said Sunday the U.S. shares Karzai's concern about civilian casualties.
Meanwhile, the top British general in Afghanistan has warned against any significant pullout of troops from the country until late 2012.
In an interview with Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper, General James Bucknall said that, in order to hold on to recent gains against the Taliban, the U.S. troop reinforcements that arrived in Afghanistan last year should stay for two more summer fighting seasons.
General Bucknall said any significant withdrawal of troops would send "conflicting signals on commitment to the campaign" in the war-torn country.
Some argue that the death of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is a good reason to accelerate the pullout from Afghanistan.
Also Tuesday, Australian officials said two of the four coalition soldiers killed in Afghanistan a day earlier were Australian.
Defense Force chief Marshal Angus Houston said one of the soldiers was shot dead by his Afghan colleague, while the other died in a helicopter crash. Their deaths bring the number of Australian soldiers killed in the conflict to 26.
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