Show US U.S. regrets accidental deaths of 7 boys M. M Karim Faiez and Laura King Los Angeles Times The US U.S. military on Monday expressed regret over the deaths of seven Afghan children in an a day earlier but blamed Islamic insurgents for preventing the youngsters from fromI I leaving the compound that was hit American officials said U.S. led coalition forces were unaware of the presence 0 f ts inside the compound in province which which also contained a a mosque and a or Islamic seminary Seven boys under the age of 16 including at least one as young as 10 were killed in Sundays Sunday's according to Afghan officials Gov told the Associated Press that in a departure from usual practice local Afghan officials were not given advance notice of Western troops' troops plans to hit the compound Accidental civilian deaths at the hands of coalition troops have become a highly emotional issue in Afghanistan The country's Western pro president Hamid has appealed repeatedly for greater caution in military operations in civilian areas but public anger at his government is growing as well The compound in inthe inthe inthe the Shah district of province in Afghanistan's southeast was believed to have been occupied by militants linked to al the military said in a statement It said several militants were killed in addition to the young boys Maj Chris Belcher a spokesman for the II coalition said s surviving surviving children t told ld authorities th they were forcibly kept inside the compound by insurgents The people in the area understand that the incident was the result of hoodlums' hoodlums activity in the area he said A full day of surveillance lance before the yielded no sign of the youngsters' youngsters presence Belcher said US U.S. military officials traveled to the province to meet with local authorities and express regret over the deaths Afghan human- human rights officials who have been strongly critical of several other military operations this year that resulted in multiple civilian deaths said they were investigating the incident Elsewhere in Afghanistan Western forces reported prolonged fighting with insurgents in southern and provinces for months the scene of the heaviest fighting between Western troops and insurgents A Dutch soldier was killed together with dozens of Tali ban fighters the coalition said In Kabul police report reported d the detention of an unidentified suspect in connection with the Jl J worst worst attack in months In Inthe inthe ii the capital capit l a massive su suicide ide b bomb mb Sunday that incinerated a bus carrying police trainees Nearly three dozen people were killed in the attack for which the claimed responsibility The blast heightened fears that militants are gaining the ability to carryout carryout carry carryout out scale large-scale attacks even in heavily fortified areas of the capital Past suicide attacks in Kabul have claimed far fewer casualties Suicide bombings are increasingly becoming a favored tactic by the insurgents |