As civilian deaths mount, Afghans seek Taliban talks

KABUL, Afghanistan — Lawmakers angered by mounting civilian deaths have sent a warning to U.S. and NATO commanders, passing a motion for a military cease-fire and negotiations with the Taliban.

The resolution, which NATO labeled "a warning shot" across its own bow, came as reports emerged Wednesday of 21 villagers killed in airstrikes — a toll that a Taliban spokesman said the militia would avenge.

The proposal from the upper house of parliament, which also calls for a date to be set for the withdrawal of foreign troops, suggests that Afghan support for the 5 ½-year international military mission is crumbling.

The resolution passed Tuesday, hours before U.S. special forces battling insurgents in Helmand province called in a series of airstrikes.

The U.S.-led coalition said it destroyed "three enemy command and control compounds" near Sangin, a militant hotbed in Afghanistan's opium poppy region that has seen heavy fighting this year.

The coalition said a "significant" number of militants died in the battle, which pitted insurgents against U.S. and Afghan government troops. One coalition soldier also died.

However, Helmand Gov. Assadullah Wafa said militants had sought shelter in Afghan homes and that the airstrikes had killed at least 21 civilians.

Neither account could be independently verified. The incident is the latest in a string of operations in which Afghans have lamented civilian casualties. While a majority of civilian deaths over the years have been caused by Taliban attacks, fatalities caused by international forces have enraged villagers and sparked angry protests around Afghanistan in recent weeks, prompting President Hamid Karzai to warn that Afghans have run out of patience with such losses.

On Tuesday, the U.S. military apologized and paid compensation to the families of 19 people killed and 50 wounded by Marines Special Forces who fired on civilians after a suicide attack in Afghanistan in March.

Also

British police arrested the widow of one of the London suicide bombers of July 7, 2005, along with three other suspects Wednesday, a source familiar with the operation said. Police said a 29-year-old woman and three men were detained in the northern region of West Yorkshire and in Birmingham, central England.

The source identified the woman as Hasina Patel, whose husband, Mohammad Sidique Khan, was one of four young British Muslims who blew themselves up in the 7/7 attacks, killing 52 people on three London underground trains and a bus.