KABUL, Dec 26, (AFP): International forces went beyond their mandate by carrying out a raid on a Kabul office which left two Afghan security guards dead, Afghanistan’s government said Sunday.
The guards were killed Friday when foreign troops stormed the building over what the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) later said was a plot to attack the United States embassy.
ISAF said it had received intelligence that the trading and transport firm in the city centre was harbouring two cars packed with explosives.
“The interior ministry has launched a serious investigation... as a result of which it has been made clear that the operation by the international forces was against the rules of conduct,” interior ministry spokesman Zemerai Bashary said.

“This was a heart-rending and tragic incident. The forces involved in that operation, regardless of the rules and pre-agreements, conducted an operation within Kabul city.”
Responsibility for Kabul policing was transferred to Afghan police in 2008 and, according to Bashary, all military operations within the capital must be carried out by local forces who can request support from the foreign military.
Bashary said Friday’s operation involved Afghan special police but they were not on the front line.
He said an Afghan general with responsibility for some of the police involved in the raids had been suspended and a colonel had been fired over the incident.
ISAF did not immediately respond to a request for comment in response to Bashary’s remarks, which are the latest sign of tensions between Karzai’s government and its Western backers.
Responsibility for security across Afghanistan is due to be transferred from the 140,000-strong international force to the Afghan army and police in 2014.
Canada’s Defense Minister Peter MacKay concluded a two-day visit to Afghanistan with praise for his country’s troops as they prepare to wrap up combat operations in Kandahar next year, officials said Saturday.

“The Canadian forces serve and sacrifice to defend our country and assist the people of Afghanistan rebuild their country,” MacKay said in a statement as he ended his Christmas holiday season visit with Canadian forces in Kabul and Kandahar.
“They are making tangible progress in a very challenging environment.
“It was an honor for me to spend this special time of year in Afghanistan with the men and women who represent our great country with such eminence,” he added.
Canada is ending its Nato-led combat mission to Kandahar province in July 2011 and beginning a non-combat, Kabul-centered training role that will continue until 2014.
MacKay met during his visit with General Abdul Rahim Wardak, his Afghan counterpart, as well as Nato’s commander of Regional Command (South), US Major-General James Terry and Canadian Brigadier-General Dean Milner, the Task Force Kandahar commander.
He also spoke about strategic engagement post-2011 with US Lieutenant-General William Caldwell, commander of the Nato Training Mission in Afghanistan and of the Combined Security Transition Command.
“The future of Afghanistan depends on the institutions and infrastructure that Canada is helping to create,” said MacKay, who was accompanied on the trip by senior diplomatic and development officials including Bev Oda, Ottawa’s international cooperation minister.
“I continue to see improvement every time I come to Afghanistan, and am hopeful for the future.”