Afghan president rejects US apology

Afghanistan's president says US expression of regret for mistakenly killing nine Afghan boys is not sufficient and that civilian casualties are no longer acceptable.

Afghanistan's president says US expression of regret for mistakenly killing nine Afghan boys is not sufficient and that civilian casualties are no longer acceptable.

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In a statement issued today by his office, Hamid Karzai said he told Gen David Petraeus, the top commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan, that expressing regret was not sufficient in last week's killing of the boys, ages 12 and under, by coalition helicopters. NATO later apologised for the mistaken killing.

The statement added that during a meeting with Karzai, Petraeus said the killing was a mistake by NATO and extended his condolences and regret to Karzai and to the Afghan people, promising that such an incident will not be repeated.