Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned NATO occupation forces against killing of civilians, saying the forces could face "huge problems" if the deaths did not stop.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned NATO occupation forces against killing of civilians, saying the forces could face "huge problems" if the deaths did not stop.

"I once again point out that NATO and ISAF must focus on terrorist bases and havens or otherwise, with the daily killing of innocent civilians, they will cause huge problems for themselves," Karzai said in a statement issued by his office.
Karzai also stressed that "Afghan villages are not the bases and havens of terrorism" in his statement, it said.

The statement came after Afghan officials said nine children were killed in an air strike on Tuesday in the northeastern province of Kunar, which has seen a string of such reported civilian deaths recently.

International forces admitted Wednesday that they “accidentally” martyred nine Afghan civilians in an air strike and their commander, General David Petraeus, said he was "deeply sorry for this tragedy."

A spokesman for ISAF said a delegation made up of Afghan and ISAF officials had deployed to carry out an investigation into the latest sayings.
It has previously said that it took the issue of civilian casualties "very seriously" and pledged to investigate the most recent alleged incident "quickly and thoroughly."

Karzai has long insisted that international forces deployed to his war-torn country should focus their efforts on militant hideouts across the border, in neighboring Pakistan.