Airstrike probe: More training needed
KABUL, Afghanistan, May 29 (UPI) -- More training is needed after a February NATO drone airstrike that killed dozens of civilians in Afghanistan, the U.S. military says.
In addition, four officers were reprimanded -- including senior leaders at the battalion and brigade level, and admonishments to two junior officers -- after a military investigation of the Predator strike found problems in "training, communication and decision-making," CNN reported.
Up to 23 civilians were killed and 12 wounded in the airstrike on a three-vehicle convoy in southern Afghanistan. The investigation determined a soldier thought the convoy of civilians was a group of insurgents, CNN said.
Afterward, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said the investigation indicated more training was needed for several different combat units, the report said. McChrystal apologized and met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai to reassure the country's government that every effort was being made not to target civilians.
The U.S. military investigation also urged improvement in counter-intelligence training in an attempt to avoid civilian deaths. CNN said the civilian deaths have undermined the Afghan government and the credibility of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan.
The investigation report said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Timothy McHale, who reviewed the attack, said the Predator crew "ignored or downplayed" intelligence the "convoy was anything other than an attacking force."
Death toll in mosque attacks reaches 98
LAHORE, Pakistan, May 29 (UPI) -- The death toll in attacks on two mosques of a religious minority in Pakistan has risen to 98 with more than 100 wounded, officials said Saturday.
Friday's attacks in Lahore in eastern Pakistan were against houses of worship of the Ahmadi sect, a persecuted religious group, CNN reported.
Attackers throwing hand grenades and firing weapons in the Model Town neighborhood of Lahore killed seventy-five people; 23 others were killed in the Garhi Shahu neighborhood.
Ahmadis consider themselves to be Muslims, but the Pakistani government does not classify them as such, and Sunni and Shiite Muslim extremists have often targeted them, CNN said.
There are thought to be about 3 million or 4 million Ahmadis in Pakistan enduring "the most severe legal restrictions and officially sanctioned discrimination" of the country's religious minorities, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom says.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, a non-governmental organization, denounced the attacks and said it had warned the government about threats to the Ahmadi community in Lahore for more than a year.
Deportation ordered in N.Y. bomb attempt
NEW YORK, May 29 (UPI) -- A man accused of giving cash to Times Square car bomb suspect Faisal Shahzad was ordered deported to Pakistan by a U.S. immigration judge, officials said.
Aftab Khan was arrested in Massachusetts May 13 during the investigation of the failed bombing attempt by investigators who said Shahzad's name was in Khan's cell phone, the New York Daily News reported Saturday.
Shahzad's name was also written on an envelope found in Khan's apartment, authorities said.
Khan came to the United States last summer to marry an American soldier he met overseas, his attorney said, but she broke off the engagement.
In November, Khan married a teacher in Cambridge, Mass., the Daily News said.
Khan, a gas station attendant living in Watertown, Mass., has 30 days to appeal the decision handed down in Boston by Judge Robin Feder.
Thailand lifts curfew, promises 'normalcy'
BANGKOK, May 29 (UPI) -- Thailand says the curfew imposed during recent anti-government protests has been lifted, and promises efforts to bring "normalcy" to the country, observers say.
Emergency laws remained in force in 24 of the country's 76 provinces including Bangkok, CNN reported Saturday.
The curfew was imposed last week after at least 50 people were killed and almost 400 injured as government troops put down protests by Red Shirt demonstrators, CNN said.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said measures such as lifting the curfew and giving assistance to those affected by the demonstrations would be key points in his government's efforts at rehabilitation and reconciliation with the demonstrators, the Thai News Agency reported.
The government would set up an independent committee to investigate the unrest, he said, adding he was ready to be scrutinized for his actions in dealing with the protesters.
Abhisit said he would not rule out an early election, and was ready to dissolve Parliament for fresh elections if the reconciliation plan progressed smoothly.
