While conceding coalition troops had made efforts to minimise civilian casualties in its military operations, Afghan President Hamid Karzai was adamant that they had not done enough. Karzai cited the case of a 12 year-old girl who had lost 12 relatives killed by a NATO rocket and was left alone to recover the bodies.
For some time, Saudi Arabia has been trying to bring about talks between the Afghan Government and the Taleban, in pursuit of the generally held belief that there is no final military solution to Afghanistan's problems and that the only path to peace must lie with negotiations.
