U.N. official urges review of airstrikes

KABUL, Afghanistan, June 14 (UPI) -- U.S.-led Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan need to revise military strategies to reduce the number of civilian deaths, a United Nations official said.

"We cannot eliminate civilian casualties, but we cannot afford mistakes that lead to the loss of civilian lives, the alienation of the population and media headlines month after month that overshadow all the positive trends," said Kai Eide, chief of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan.

Eide's comments were released Saturday after his video call from Kabul to NATO ministers in Brussels, The New York Times reported Sunday.

Speaking in unusually firm terms, Eide called for an urgent review of the special operations raids, saying they need to include more Afghans in the decision-making, the Times reported.

The number of civilian deaths in Afghanistan increased by 40 percent last year to an estimated 2,128, the United Nations said, attributing 828 of those deaths to airstrikes on villages from special operations forces. The rest of the deaths were blamed on Taliban fighters and other insurgents.