Some casualties in Afstan

1) This is not good news:

The U.S. military has opened an investigation into allegations that scores of civilians were killed recently in fighting between U.S. and Taliban forces in Afghanistan.

The reports coincide with mounting public pressure on President Hamid Karzai and his international allies over noncombatant deaths as a violent insurgency continues.

The U.S. investigation was triggered by reports that at least 40 civilians died in western Afghanistan this week after U.S. special forces called in air strikes and an AC-130 gunship attack on Taliban positions.

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General Dan McNeil, said initial evidence suggested that "only firing insurgents were targeted" by his forces.

"The New York Times" quoted McNeil acknowledging the "allegations of civilian casualties" and saying it is "regrettable" if there have been such deaths.

But he added that there are "a lot of allegations [but] not a lot of substantiation."

Anger In The Province

Provincial officials say at least 42 villagers -- including women and children -- were killed during the operation in the Shindand district of Herat Province. Another 50 people were reportedly injured in the air strikes.

The casualties had led to anger among some of the region's residents, who on April 30 stormed government buildings and called for a halt to the aerial bombardment and all military operations in the area...

On May 2, President Karzai warned that the Afghan public's patience was wearing thin.

"We can no longer accept these [civilian] casualties," Karzai said. "The Afghan nation has the right to complain. The Afghan nation should first complain to its government, because it's our duty. I'm busy dealing with it on a daily basis. Today, we also had a very serious meeting with our foreign guests and those who cooperate with us whom I had invited, and we tried to find better ways to coordinate in this area."

Karzai had previously expressed concern over civilian deaths on several occasions...

2) First Danish combat fatality:

A Danish soldier has died after he was injured in a battle in Afghanistan, bringing the number of Danish soldiers to die in Afghanistan to four, the Danish army said Thursday.

The soldier, 24, was shot in the neck last Sunday when the Danish troops were attacked near Denmark's Camp Bastion in the southern Helmand province in Afghanistan, Danish Army head Maj. Gen. Poul Kiaerskou said in a statement.

Seriously injured, the soldier was sent to a field hospital and then transferred to the Copenhagen University hospital.

It is the fourth death of Danish soldiers since they were sent to Afghanistan on mission in January 2002.

A spokesman for the Danish army said that it was the first time that a Danish soldier had been killed in combat in Afghanistan...