Kabul: Foreign troops in Afghanistan have paid out $1.4 million (Dh5.1 million) to Afghans in the past two months for damages in the country's south, where they have been waging a stepped up military campaign, Nato-led forces said yesterday.
General James Terry, commander for the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in southern Afghanistan, said that since November 2 more than 800 claims for compensation had been made and that more than half of those had been settled.
It gave no details on the nature of the claims made.
A report by a government delegation, presented to Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday, said Afghan and foreign forces have caused more than $100 million damage to fruit crops and homes in the southern Kandahar province.
Isaf, which has declined repeated requests for direct comment on the report, yesterday issued a statement quoting Kandahar officials condemning the report as "extremely exaggerated".
Payouts
But $1.4 million in payouts has been made across the southern regional command area — which covers six provinces including Kandahar — over the past two months, the statement said.
"Claims by the residents are taken very seriously," Terry said in a statement released by Isaf, which contained the $1.4 million figure.
"If we damage something, it is our obligation and responsibility to compensate for it."
Tens of thousands of foreign and Afghan troops are deployed in Kandahar, a traditional stronghold of the Afghan Taliban, where they have been conducting military offensives in a bid to regain the upper hand.
