Afghan president condemns militants for hiding under burqas

Calling militant attacks “cowardly work,” Afghan President Hamid Karzai today deplored a suicide bombing that killed 12 schoolchildren and accused militants of running from battle by donning women’s clothing.

“Whenever there is pressure on them they escape under a woman’s burqa,” said Karzai.

He did not explain his comment, but could have been referring to past reports of Taliban militants in Afghanistan wearing the all-encompassing burqa to flee detection.

Karzai called reporters to the presidential palace to condemn yesterday’s suicide bombing in Uruzgan province that killed at least 17 people, including 12 students.

The attack in a crowded market wounded more than 30 people, including eight Dutch soldiers whom the attacker apparently had targeted.

“I pray to God that Afghanistan is soon freed from all this suffering,” Karzai said, noting that mass battles between Western militaries and Taliban militants were down this year, but suicide and roadside bombings were up.

Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry spokesman said it is easy for Taliban fighters to falsely claim that civilians were killed by Western or Afghan military action.

“The enemy is threatening the local people to lie to the media,” Gen. Zahir Azimi said. “They even give them telephone numbers of the different agencies to call them and tell them that, for example, 100 civilians were killed in an airstrike by the coalition or Nato.”

Karzai has repeatedly deplored civilian deaths caused by Nato or US military action, saying more must be done to prevent such casualties.

Military officials have recently begun claiming some reports are nothing but information warfare by the Taliban. That tactic could be an attempt to lower support for Nato’s mission in European capitals, they say.

Hundreds of Afghan civilians have been killed by both US and Nato forces and Taliban militants so far this year.

A joint Afghan-US convoy, meanwhile, came under attack in Paktia province today, sparking a fight that killed two police and four Taliban, said Ghulam Dastager, deputy provincial police chief.

In Helmand province, Afghan and US-led coalition forces killed eight suspected Taliban yesterday, the Ministry of Interior said.

Violence has spiked in Afghanistan the last six weeks. More than 3,200 people, mostly militants, have died in insurgency-related violence this year, according a count by the media based on numbers from Afghan and Western officials.

The UN World Food Programme said it resumed food deliveries to the volatile south and west.

The agency suspended shipments to tens of thousands of people in the region on May 28 because of attacks on its vehicles.

“While there are still major problems, getting trucks moving again ... is an important breakthrough for our operations,” said Rick Corsino, WFP director for Afghanistan.