NATO chief says Taliban used civilians as shields

WASHINGTON: NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer called it a tragedy that NATO troops killed Afghan civilians this week - and privately told President George W. Bush that Taliban-associated militants used the civilians as human shields.

The deaths occurred Tuesday during NATO operations in the Panjwayi district of southern Afghanistan, aimed at quelling the country’s deadliest spate of violence since the Taliban were ousted by U.S.-led forces five years ago. Militants increasingly have resorted to roadside and suicide bombs, particularly in the south and east of the country near Pakistan.

NATO has said its initial reports found 12 civilians were killed. But Afghan officials have estimated that 30 to 80 died, including many women and children. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Friday that three houses were destroyed, killing most of the people inside, and that his Defense Ministry was leading an investigation.

"When, in those actions of NATO, of those brave NATO soldiers, civilians are killed, as happened two days ago, that’s always a tragedy," de Hoop Scheffer said.

De Hoop Scheffer did not say publicly that the Taliban were to blame for the civilian deaths, instead stressing in his remarks at Bush’s side in the Oval Office that the NATO mission is defending democracy in a country once ruled by the repressive regime.

"Girls did not go to school when the Taliban were running Afghanistan. Now they go to school. Now there is a president. Now there is a government," he said. "Civilian victims are a tragedy, but we are there in favor of democracy. They are there to destroy democracy, and they are there to destroy our values."

White House press secretary Tony Snow said de Hoop Scheffer told Bush that the Taliban were using civilians as human shields before they were killed Tuesday.