Less Collateral Damage

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), acknowledged on Monday that efforts in Afghanistan had been hurt because of a recent rise in civilian casualties.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai had accused the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) of killing about 90 civilians in June, most of them in air operations. Karzai said that the casualties could damage support for the presence of foreign troops in the country.

Smaller bombs

More than 330 civilians have been killed during fighting involving foreign troops in Afghanistan this year so far, according to Afghan officials and Western aid workers, Reuters news agency reported.

Scheffer said that NATO officials were "working with weapons load on aircraft to reduce collateral damage."

A NATO diplomat told the Financial Times newspaper that using 250 kg (about 500 pounds) bombs rather than 500 kg bombs would "make a huge amount of difference" in terms of casualties. NATO officials also said that the Afghan army should increasingly take on house-to-house searches to avoid confrontations.

No need to rush

Scheffer also said that NATO troops would hold off on attacks against the Taliban if the number of civilian casualties would run too high as the result of an attack.

"We realize that, if we cannot neutralize our enemy today without harming civilians, our enemy will give us the opportunity tomorrow," Scheffer told the paper. "If that means going after the Taliban not on Wednesday but on Thusday, we will get him then."

Scheffer added, however, that it was impossible to avoid civilian casualties altogether.

More than 50,000 foreign soldiers are currently stationed in Afghanistan, including some 3,000 Germans.