US Strike Kills 78 Afghans, Afghan President Says Most Were Civilians Scores of Afghan civilians who had gathered in a small village for the memorial ceremony of a militia commander were killed when US and Afghan soldiers launched an attack in the middle of the night, officials and villagers said Saturday. President Hamid Karzai condemned the early Friday operation in western Afghanistan and said most of the dead were civilians. The US coalition, however, said it believed only five civilians were among those killed. 4 comments