Wednesday, May 6, 2009

2nd swine flu death in Texas; Mexico set to reopen

MEXICO CITY -Mexico emerged from its swine flu isolation Tuesday as thousands of newspaper vendors, salesmen hawking trinkets and even panhandlers dropped their protective masks and joined the familiar din of traffic horns and blaring music on the streets of the capital.
There were still signs, however, of the virus that set off world health alarms. A Texas woman who lived near a popular border crossing was confirmed as the second outside Mexico and the first U.S. resident to die after contracting the virus. Mexico's Health Department later announced three more confirmed deaths, raising the country's total to 29.
Across Mexico, people were eagerly anticipating this week's reopening of businesses, restaurants, schools and parks, after a claustrophobic five-day furlough.
"We have a lot of confidence nothing is going to happen," said Irineo Moreno Gonzales, 54, a security guard who Tuesday limited takeout customers to four at a time at a usually crowded downtown Starbucks. "Mexicans have the same spirit we've always had. We're ready to move forward."
The Texas woman, the second confirmed person to die with swine flu in the U.S., lived not far from the Mexico border and had chronic medical conditions, as did the Mexico City toddler who died of swine flu last week during a visit to Houston, Texas, health officials said.
The 33-year-old woman was pregnant and delivered a healthy baby while hospitalized, said Leonel Lopez, Cameron County epidemiologist. She was a teacher in the Mercedes Independent School District, which announced it would close its schools until May 11.
Mexico's government imposed the shutdown to curb the flu's spread, especially in this metropolis of 20 million where the outbreak sickened the most people. Capital residents overwhelmingly complied, and officials cautiously hailed the drastic experiment as a success.
But by Tuesday, pedestrians — many wearing protective masks, many not — were back to dodging the familiar green-and-white VW taxis cruising for fares and noisy heavy trucks bearing bottled water.
Some officials worried about a sudden rush toward normalcy.
"The scientists are saying that we really need to evaluate more," said Dr. Ethel Palacios, the deputy director of the swine flu monitoring effort here. "In terms of how the virus is going to behave, we are keeping every possibility in mind. ... We can't make a prediction of what's going to happen."
Palacios acknowledged the enormous responsibilities that come with balancing the public's health and economic welfare.
"One of most the important things is that you need to know that these measures do have an impact not only on health but also on other aspect of life and society," Palacios said.
With 942 people sickened in Mexico at last count, public celebrations of Cinco de Mayo were banned, and politicians' homage to the soldiers who fought off the French 147 years ago were subdued.
For the first time in decades, Mexico canceled the popular re-enactment of its May 5, 1862, victory over invading French troops in the central state of Puebla. Another traditionally boisterous Cinco de Mayo party in Mexico City's central plaza, the Zocalo, will wait for another year, as will military ceremonies across the nation.
Cinco de Mayo celebrations generally attract bigger crowds in the U.S., where many Mexican-Americans gather to embrace their heritage. These crowds prompted concerns Tuesday about spreading the virus.
Denver's annual festival, which typically draws 400,000, will be held as planned this weekend, with hand sanitation stations installed at the urging of city health officials. Los Angeles won't skip its weekend celebration on historic Olvera Street. But in Chicago, the Mexican Civic Society of Illinois canceled its annual festivities because of flu concerns.
Swine flu has now sickened more than 1,700 people in 21 countries, including more than 600 in the United States. The World Health Organization said it was shipping 2.4 million treatments of antiflu drugs to 72 countries "most in need," and France sent 100,000 doses of antiflu drugs worth $1.7 million to Mexico.
Mexican Finance Secretary Agustin Carstens unveiled plans Tuesday to stimulate key industries and fight foreign bans on Mexican pork products. He said persuading tourists to come back will be a top priority.
Carstens said the outbreak cost Mexico's economy at least $2.2 billion, and he announced a $1.3 billion stimulus package, mostly for tourism and small businesses, the sectors hardest hit by the epidemic. Mexico will temporarily reduce taxes for airlines and cruise ships and cut health insurance payments for small businesses.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he will ask governments to reverse trade and travel restrictions lacking a clear scientific basis.
About 20 Chinese businessmen and students, each wearing surgical masks, left Tijuana zon Tuesday on a Chinese government flight after being stranded when China canceled all direct flights to Mexico.
Mexico, meanwhile, was collecting more than 70 Mexican nationals quarantined in China with its own charter flight.
Four U.S. citizens were quarantined in China, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said Tuesday, and about 200 passengers who flew from the United Kingdom were under quarantine in a Brunei hospital after three of them arrived with fevers.
Mexico City recovered a bit of its ebullient self Tuesday, one day before the official reopening of stores, restaurants and factories. Only essential services like gas stations and supermarkets have been allowed to operate since April 27, and the weekend's professional soccer games will again be staged in empty stadiums.
High schools and universities were being scrubbed down to reopen Thursday. Younger children return to school on Monday.
Many people shunned their surgical masks Tuesday; a boy selling music CDs on a subway train planted a wet kiss on the unprotected cheek of a girl hawking tiny flashlights. A fruit salad vendor dished up slabs of freshly cut mango and coconut without mask and gloves.
The government is requiring businesses to keep a distance of 2 meters (yards) between customers to prevent the disease from spreading. The rule seemed unlikely to survive in the overcrowded capital.
"It's a little senseless, that people ride into town all jammed together on the subway, and the minute they enter a restaurant, they have to be 2 meters apart," said Nahum Navarette, manager of Yug, a vegetarian restaurant that was still serving only takeout on Tuesday, its dining room deserted.

Nation's first face transplant patient shows face

CLEVELAND -Five years ago, a shotgun blast left a ghastly hole where the middle of her face had been. Five months ago, she received a new face from a dead woman. Connie Culp stepped forward Tuesday to show off the results of the nation's first face transplant, and her new look was a far cry from the puckered, noseless sight that made children run away in horror.
Culp's expressions are still a bit wooden, but she can talk, smile, smell and taste her food again. Her speech is at times a little tough to understand. Her face is bloated and squarish, and her skin droops in big folds that doctors plan to pare away as her circulation improves and her nerves grow, animating her new muscles.
But Culp had nothing but praise for those who made her new face possible.
"I guess I'm the one you came to see today," the 46-year-old Ohio woman said at a news conference at the Cleveland Clinic, where the groundbreaking operation was performed. But "I think it's more important that you focus on the donor family that made it so I could have this person's face."
Up until Tuesday, Culp's identity and how she came to be disfigured were a secret.
Culp's husband, Thomas, shot her in 2004, then turned the gun on himself. He went to prison for seven years. His wife was left clinging to life. The blast shattered her nose, cheeks, the roof of her mouth and an eye. Hundreds of fragments of shotgun pellet and bone splinters were embedded in her face. She needed a tube into her windpipe to breathe. Only her upper eyelids, forehead, lower lip and chin were left.
A plastic surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Risal Djohan, got a look at her injuries two months later. "He told me he didn't think, he wasn't sure, if he could fix me, but he'd try," Culp recalled.
She endured 30 operations to try to fix her face. Doctors took parts of her ribs to make cheekbones and fashioned an upper jaw from one of her leg bones. She had countless skin grafts from her thighs. Still, she was left unable to eat solid food, breathe on her own, or smell.
Then, on Dec. 10, in a 22-hour operation, Dr. Maria Siemionow led a team of doctors who replaced 80 percent of Culp's face with bone, muscles, nerves, skin and blood vessels from another woman who had just died. It was the fourth face transplant in the world, though the others were not as extensive.
"Here I am, five years later. He did what he said — I got me my nose," Culp said of Djohan, laughing.
In January, she was able to eat pizza, chicken and hamburgers for the first time in years. She loves to have cookies with a cup of coffee, Siemionow said.
No information has been released about the donor or how she died, but her family members were moved when they saw before-and-after pictures of Culp, Siemionow said.
Culp said she wants to help foster acceptance of those who have suffered burns and other disfiguring injuries.
"When somebody has a disfigurement and don't look as pretty as you do, don't judge them, because you never know what happened to them," she said. "Don't judge people who don't look the same as you do. Because you never know. One day it might be all taken away."
It's a role she has already practiced, said clinic psychiatrist Dr. Kathy Coffman.
Once while shopping, "she heard a little kid say, `You said there were no real monsters mommy, and there's one right there,'" Coffman said. Culp stopped and said, "I'm not a monster. I'm a person who was shot," and pulled out her driver's license to show the child what she used to look like, the psychiatrist said.
Culp, who is from the small town of Unionport, near the Pennsylvania line, told her doctors she just wants to blend back into society. She has a son and a daughter who live near her, and two preschooler grandsons. Before she was shot, she and her husband ran a painting and contracting business, and she did everything from hanging drywall to a little plumbing, Coffman said.
Culp left the hospital Feb. 5 and has returned for periodic follow-up care. She has suffered only one mild rejection episode that was controlled with a single dose of steroid medicines, her doctors said. She must take immune-suppressing drugs for the rest of her life, but her dosage has been greatly reduced and she needs only a few pills a day.
Also at the Cleveland Clinic is Charla Nash of Stamford, Conn., who was attacked by a friend's chimpanzee in February. She lost her hands, nose, lips and eyelids, and will be blind, doctors said. Clinic officials said it is premature to discuss the possibility of a face transplant for her.
In April, doctors at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston performed the nation's second face transplant, on a man disfigured in a freak accident. It was the world's seventh such operation. The first, in 2005, was performed in France on Isabelle Dinoire, a woman who had been mauled by her dog.

Thousands flee Pakistan valley as truce crumbles

MINGORA, Pakistan -Black-turbaned Taliban militants seized government buildings, laid mines and fought security forces Tuesday in the Swat Valley, as fear of a major operation led thousands to pack their belongings on their heads and backs, cram aboard buses and flee the northwestern region.
The collapse of a 3-month-old truce with the Taliban means Pakistan will now have to fight to regain control of the Swat Valley, testing the ability of its stretched military and the resolve of civilian leaders who until recently were insisting the insurgents could be partners in peace. The government feared the refugee exodus could reach 500,000.
The developments brought Islamabad's faltering campaign against militancy into sharp focus as President Asif Ali Zardari was preparing for talks Wednesday in Washington with President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai on how best to counter an increasingly overlapping spectrum of extremist groups behind surging violence in the neighboring countries.
The Obama administration hopes to build a strong and lasting regional alliance, linking success in Afghanistan with security in Pakistan. Toward that end, the administration is encouraging Pakistan to confront — not make peace with — the Taliban and other militants.
"These violent extremists need to be confronted head on," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said. "We will be supportive."
Fearing that war could consume the region, thousands fled the main Swat town of Mingora on Tuesday, witnesses said. Refugees clambered onto the roofs of buses after seats and floors filled up. Children and adults alike carried belongings on their heads and backs.
"I do not have any destination. I only have an aim — to escape from here," said Afzal Khan, 65, who was waiting for a bus with his wife and nine children. "It is like doomsday here. It is like hell."
Shafi Ullah, a student, said the whole town was fleeing.
"Can you hear the explosions? Can you hear the gunshots?" he said, pointing to a part of town where fighting was continuing.
It is far from certain that the Pakistani public has the stomach for a long battle in Swat. Given that the militants have had time to rest and reinforce their positions in the three months since the truce took effect, any operation would involve fierce fighting in an urban setting and almost certainly cause significant civilian casualties and damage to property.
In recent days, however, there have been signs of a turn in mood against the Taliban. Many commentators now say the movement's true nature was exposed by its refusal to go along with the peace deal despite the government's best efforts.
Pakistan agreed to a truce in the valley and surrounding districts in February after two years of fighting with militants who had beheaded political opponents and burned scores of girls schools in their campaign to implement a harsh brand of Islam modeled on their counterparts in Afghanistan.
As part of the agreement, the government imposed Islamic law last month in the hope that insurgents would lay down their arms — something they did not do.
Last week, the Taliban moved from their stronghold in the valley into Buner, a district just 60 miles from the capital. That caused alarm at home and abroad.
The army responded with an offensive it says has killed more than 100 militants and was "progressing smoothly" Tuesday, according to a brief statement.
Fighting, which had been rising in Swat in recent days, escalated Tuesday in Mingora and the neighboring town of Saidu Sharif, according to Associated Press reporters in the towns and an army statement. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Militants wearing turbans were deployed on most streets and on high buildings in Mingora, and security forces were barricaded in their bases. Khushal Khan, the top administrator in Swat, said insurgents were laying mines in the town to hinder any army advance.
Late Tuesday, several dozen militants surrounded a police residential compound and an adjoining station in Saidu Sharif after occupying the offices of the police chief and the civil administration, said an officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
"The limited forces inside the police building cannot survive for long unless the militants are engaged from outside," he said from inside the station. "We are in war conditions and need reinforcements and supplies."
Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the information minister for the North West Frontier Province, said up to 500,000 people were expected to flee the valley. Swat is already struggling to house half a million people driven there by fighting from other northwestern regions over the last year.
Hussain said authorities were releasing emergency funds and preparing six new refugee camps to house them.
Neither the military nor the central government was available to comment Tuesday on whether a fully fledged offensive was planned in the valley.
Before the peace deal, the militants were estimated to have about 4,000 well trained and heavily armed fighters in the valley. It is unclear how many security forces are already stationed there. Under the terms of the truce, the army was not required to pull out of the region.
Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said the militants were in control of "90 percent" of the valley. He said they were merely responding to what he called army violations of the deal — attacking insurgents and adding troops. He accused the government of caving to U.S. pressure in moving into Buner to counter the Taliban.
"Everything will be OK once our rulers stop bowing before America," Muslim Khan, the Taliban spokesman, told AP by cell phone, adding that the peace deal had "been dead" since the operation in Buner.
The United States and other Western nations have opposed the peace deal with the Swat Taliban, warning that other deals had broken down and given the militants time to regroup.
Pakistan has waged several offensives in the border region against al-Qaida and Taliban militants in recent years. Most have ended inconclusively or with peace deals amid public anger over civilian casualties and distaste for taking on fellow Muslims. The army has long focused on the threat posed by longtime rival India and is not used to the demands of guerrilla warfare.

Associated Press writer Riaz Khan in Peshawar and Ashraf Khan in Karachi contributed to this report. An AP reporter in Mingora who was not identified for security reasons contributed to this report.

Swiss girl, 7, finds condom in McDonald's Happy Meal!

Melbourne, May 05 (ANI): A mother had to call the police after her seven-year-old daughter discovered a condom in her McDonald's Happy Meal.

The girl found the condom in McDonald's French fries, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Fribourg state police in Switzerland said that an investigation is going on to find out where the condom came from and how it got into the Happy Meal.

They said an analysis was being done to determine if the condom posed a health risk. (ANI)

Court to frame charges against Kasab on Wednesday

Mumbai, May 5 (ANI): A trial court on Tuesday obtained sanctions from the Centre and the Maharashtra Government to prosecute prime accused in Mumbai terror attack case Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab and two others.

The court on Wednesday will frame charges against Kasab, Faheem Ansari, Sabauddin Ahmed, and 35 others accused believed to be in Pakistan.

Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam on Tuesday filed "sanctions" that pertain to offences such as waging war against the nation, violation of Customs Act (by illegally bringing firearms to India), infringement of Explosives Act and Explosives Substances Act (using explosives) and Arms Act (opening fire with sophisticated weapons.

The Judge M L Tahaliyani accepted the "sanctions" and said the court would frame charges against the trio after considering the material against them.

Nikam informed the court that the prosecution had obtained sanction from the Customs Department to prosecute Kasab under Customs Act.

Kasab and his Pakistani associates had brought arms illegally to India to strike terror in Mumbai, the prosecutor said.

Union Government has also given sanction to prosecute Kasab and others under IPC for "waging war against the nation".

If found guilty, the accused may face punishment ranging from death sentence to life imprisonment and fine. (ANI)

Mahindra kick-starts two-wheeler foray with Flyte

Chennai, May 5 (ANI/Business Wire India): Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. (M and M), part of the US 6.7 billion dollars Mahindra Group, today introduced the Flyte as its first two-wheeler offering across all markets in India.

This is part of the company's strategy following the acquisition of the business assets of Kinetic Motor Company in late 2008.

With this foray, M and M now caters to customers across a wide portfolio of product categories ranging from two wheelers and three wheelers to utility vehicles, commercial vehicles and passenger cars.

The two-wheeler products will cater to the personal mobility requirements of customers across the country.

Mahindra and Mahindra's stringent quality standards, which are a part of its customer centric approach, will be reflected in the Flyte.

Anoop Mathur, President - Two-wheeler Business, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, said, "The introduction of the Flyte marks the beginning of our two-wheeler foray. It will be our endeavour to present customers with more products that carry the quality and legacy of the Mahindra Group. We use the design and engineering services of all our affiliates including the Italy based Engines Engineering in all our product development work to give technologically superior products to our consumers."

The Flyte is a 125cc automatic scooter that boasts of several class-defining features such as front fuelling, the largest storage space in its class and 4-in-1 anti-theft key.

It has a powerful 125 cc engine and telescopic suspension which ensure a smooth ride. It will be available at 238 dealerships in tier 2 and 3 cities as the flagship model from Mahindra. This network will be increased over a period of time.

Mahindra is already the market leader in utility vehicles in India and makes a wide range of vehicles including MUVs, LCVs, passenger vehicles and three wheelers.

The company offers customers over 20 models including new generation utility vehicles like the Scorpio and the Bolero. Over the years, Mahindra has been steadily growing in stature as an international automotive major with a footprint in several countries across the world. (ANI)

India beefs up security along Nepal border

Sonoli Border (UP), May 5 (ANI): In wake of the political turmoil in Nepal, India has beefed up security along its border with Nepal in Uttar Pradesh.

Security personnel of paramilitary Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), are monitoring the movements along the Sonoli border in the state.

The intelligence wing has been alerted to prevent any attempt of infiltration in India by Madheshi community fleeing the Himalayan nation.

Nepal's Prime Minister Prachanda resigned on Monday after a crisis sparked by his sacking of the country's army chief, plunging the Himalayan republic into a political turmoil.

The one-year-old Maoist-led government had fired General Rookmangud Katawal on Sunday, accusing him of disobeying instructions not to hire new recruits and refusing to accept the supremacy of the civilian government.

The crisis is a huge blow to a 2006 peace pact that ended a decade-long civil war that pitted the army against the Maoists.

The peace agreement ushered the Maoists into the political mainstream and they won an election last year.

Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh share a 275-kilometer long border area with Nepal.

Landlocked Nepal is ringed by India on three sides and by the Himalayas in the north. The border area has always been vulnerable for elements engaged in antinational activities. (ANI)

Gangtok Sends 50,000 Votes for Baichung’s Victory on ‘Jhalak’

As many as 50,000 SMS votes have been cast in the past two weeks for Indian football captain Baichung Bhutia from this Sikkim capital alone to ensure his win on Sony TV’s reality dance show ‘Jhalak Dikhla Jaa’.

Gangtok, May 5 : As many as 50,000 SMS votes have been cast in the past two weeks for Indian football captain Baichung Bhutia from this Sikkim capital alone to ensure his win on Sony TV’s reality dance show ‘Jhalak Dikhla Jaa’.


With the competition getting tougher, people have started a mega campaign in Sikkim and in the hills of neighbouring West Bengal to garner support for the Sikkim football star.

According to Thukchuk Lachungpa, president of the social organisation Citizens Forum, vouchers worth Rs.150,000 were bought to vote for Baichung.

‘Citizens Forum has taken the responsibility to ensure that the son of Sikkim wins the reality show. He has shown considerable commitment towards dancing and is doing everything that a footballer can do to be a dancer,’ said Lachungpa.

According to Lachungpa, the football player was lagging behind in the show because of lack of votes and that is why Citizens Forum decided to back him up.

The forum is being supported by local cable network, Nayuma Television, as well as organisations like the Tibetan Youth Club and the United Sikkim Soccer Club.

‘It is a similar case to Prashant Tamang (winner of ‘Indian Idol 3′). People from all walks of life voted for Prashant along with people in Assam, Dehradun and the West Bengal hills. We want the same response for Baichung,’ said Lachungpa.

Citizens Forum has planned meetings with the representatives of the Prashant Fan Club in Darjeeling and Kalimpong in next few days and will campaign in the northeast region where Baichung has a large fan following.

‘Kolkata and the various football associations are voting for Baichung, which is not enough if we want him to win. Mass voting is scheduled for this Friday at Hotel Himalayan Heights where people are welcome to vote through SMS as recharge coupons will be provided by the Citizens Forum,’ he added.

The organisations that had supported Prashant for ‘Indian Idol’ will now rally behind Baichung as well, he said.

‘We have enough funds in place to carry out a large scale campaign for Baichung. What we need is more proactive support realising the ‘urgency’ and the same kind of frenzy, which was witnessed during campaigning for Prashant. We can do Sikkim’s son proud by showing our support,’ said Lachungpa.

A grand musical extravaganza has also been planned at Paljor Stadium in Gangtok for the finale, which is scheduled for the last week of May.

A similar campaign was carried out for Debojit Saha, winner of Zee TV’s ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005′ and ‘Indian Idol 4′ winner Sourabhee Debbarma too.

The third season of ‘Jhalak Dikhla Jaa‘ went on air Feb 27 with 12 contestants from different walks of life such as sports, films, fashion and music, among others, and they teamed up with professional dance partners to perform on the show. Out of 12, seven have been eliminated.

Baichung and his partner Sonia are competing with Hard Kaur-Savio, Parul Chauhan-Deepak, Karan Singh Grover-Nicole S. Alvares and Gauhar Khan-Himanshu for the title.

Pakistan urged over Taleban fight

Washington's special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan has said the US must put more pressure on Islamabad to aid efforts against the Taleban.

Richard Holbrooke said the US could not succeed in the Afghan conflict against the Taleban without Pakistan's support.

He was speaking on the eve of a meeting between US President Barack Obama with the leaders of the two countries.

It comes as Pakistani Taleban militants appeared poised to end a truce and the Afghan Taleban launched new attacks.

"We need to put the most heavy possible pressure on our friends in Pakistan to join us in the fight against the Taleban and its allies," Mr Holbrooke told a congressional hearing in Washington.
He said America's most vital national security interests were at stake in the region and that the US "cannot succeed in Afghanistan without Pakistan's support and involvement".

Mr Holbrooke cautioned against describing Pakistan as a failed state and reconfirmed US support for President Asif Ali Zardari, saying Washington's goal "must be unambiguously to support and help stabilize a democratic Pakistan headed by its elected president".

But he said Pakistan had to "demonstrate its commitment to rooting out al-Qaeda and the violent extremists within its borders".

The US believes that Taleban fighters are able to seek sanctuary in Pakistan's border regions in order to launch attacks in Afghanistan.

Speaking at the Brookings Institute think tank in Washington DC, Mr Karzai said his country could never be stable or peaceful unless alleged Taleban sanctuaries and training grounds in Pakistan were removed.

He said Afghanistan would use the talks to do "all that it can in immense friendship and brotherhood with Pakistan and alliance and friendship with America" to address the issue.

Growing unrest
BBC Diplomatic Correspondent Jonathan Marcus says Mr Obama is fighting on multiple fronts.

He needs to convince Pakistan's leaders of the gravity of the situation but also to convince Congress to approve the huge aid package for country, a vital element of the US strategy.

Wednesday's talks between Mr Obama, Mr Zardari and their Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, come at a time of new unrest in both countries as a result of Taleban fighting.

Hundreds of residents of Pakistan's Swat Valley fled their homes on Tuesday as a peace deal between the army and the Taleban appeared close to collapse.

Officials say up to 500,000 people are expected to flee and authorities are preparing six refugee camps for them.

There have been clashes between the army and militants in Swat and heavy battles in neighbouring districts.

A major army operation against the Taleban in Swat Valley does seem likely, the BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan reports from Islamabad.

Civilian deaths

In Afghanistan, reports say more than 20 Afghan civilians were killed by US air strikes on Tuesday.

Fighting in Farah Province also reportedly killed 25 Taleban militants.

An Afghan official told the BBC he had seen more than 20 bodies, including women and children, lying in two lorries outside the governor's house.

The official said those who transported the bodies said they had been killed by American air strikes.

America's military said they were investigating the reports.

The issue of civilian casualties is hugely sensitive in Afghanistan and Mr Karzai has repeatedly urged international forces to take greater steps to avoid them.