Up to 50 people were killed Tuesday in U.S. air strikes on buildings in an Afghan area frequented by insurgents, a senior U.S. military official told CNN on Friday. However, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the death toll was higher, telling CNN's Wolf Blitzer that more than 100 people were killed. "I got different word from the government this morning that there were more than 100 casualties, nearly 125 to 130 civilians lost ... and that it was done by the bombings," he said. Asked whether the bombings were done by the U.S., Karzai said yes. "The air strikes are not acceptable," he said. "This is something that we've raised in the Afghan government very clearly, that terrorism is not in the Afghan villages, not in Afghan homes. And you cannot defeat terrorists by air strikes." He added, "We cannot justify in any manner, for whatever number of Taliban, for whatever number of significantly important terrorists, the accidental or otherwise loss of civilians." Karzai said he had told President Barack Obama his views on the air strikes. "President Obama was very nice and kind to protract and extend his sorrows and apologies for these incidents," Karzai said.
