| A A A By Eltaf Najafizada and Mark Williams

Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) — A NATO air strike in Afghanistan killed as many as 33 civilians, triggering a government protest over noncombatant deaths that undermine a stepped-up offensive to defeat Taliban insurgents.

Early reports of the “unjustifiable” attack on three minibuses in central Uruzgan Province said nearly three dozen people were killed, including four women and a child, Afghanistan’s Council of Ministers said in a statement. Twelve people were injured in the attack on a convoy traveling to the southern province of Kandahar, it said. Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said 21 people were known to have died.

“We are extremely saddened by the tragic loss of innocent lives,” U.S. General Stanley McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan, said in a statement. “I have made it clear to our forces that we are here to protect the Afghan people, and inadvertently killing or injuring civilians undermines their trust and confidence in our mission.”

The incident comes as an offensive by 15,000 Afghan and NATO troops in neighboring Helmand Province is seeking to wipe out a Taliban stronghold whose opium crop has helped fund the guerrilla movement. It is the biggest operation against the Taliban since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 attacks.

Air Attack

NATO said aircraft yesterday fired on suspected militants in Uruzgan believed to be preparing to attack a unit of Afghan and international troops “resulting in a number of individuals killed and wounded,” NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said in a statement.

Women and children were later found at the scene of the attack, and the wounded were taken for medical treatment, it said, without giving further details.

Afghan ministers urged NATO forces to avoid civilian casualties “considered to be a major obstacle for an effective counterterrorism effort.”

Bashary, the ministry spokesman, told Associated Press the minibuses had been carrying 42 civilians when they were attacked driving down a major road in the mountainous province.

At least 13 NATO troops, one Afghan soldier, 16 civilians and about 120 insurgents have died during the Helmand fighting, according to news media including the Associated Press and Voice of America.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai urged forces “to exercise absolute caution to avoid harming civilians” before the operation began Feb. 13.

Obama Policy

The Helmand offensive is the first major combat test of U.S. President Barack Obama’s policy of sending in reinforcements to reverse Taliban territorial gains, protect civilians and train local forces to start taking over parts of Afghanistan in July 2011.

The next stage will be to “roll eastwards into Kandahar,” British Major General Nick Carter, the top coalition commander for the area, said Feb. 18. More troops are scheduled to come into Afghanistan starting in March as part of the surge, aided by additional Afghan security forces.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Williams in New Delhi at mwilliams108@bloomberg.net


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