Vedpal Singh, his arm in a sling, said at the airport on Saturday that he heard a loud sound after the plane touched down and knew something was horribly wrong.
He said the plane then went silent before people tried to get out anyway they could. The entire incident lasted about 10 seconds.
Singh was visibly shaken. He was traveling with his wife and at least one child from South Korea, where he works, and said he was in the middle of the aircraft.
He said it was "miraculous" that he survived.
National Transportation Safety Board member Earl Weener said Saturday the broken rail is of substantial interest to investigators and a portion of the track will be sent to a lab for analysis.
Weener said it's not clear if the accident caused the fracture or if the rail was broken before the crash. He said he won't speculate on the cause of the derailment and emphasized the investigation was in its early stages.
Seventy-two people were sent to the hospital Friday evening after a Metro-North train heading east from New York City derailed and was hit by a train heading west from New Haven. Most have been discharged.
Officials earlier described devastating damage and said it was fortunate no one was killed.
"All of the injured people described the really harrowing experience of having the train jolt to a stop, the dust, darkness, other kinds of factors that made it particularly frightening," said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who visited several patients in the hospital.
Blumenthal said a Metro-North conductor helped passengers despite her own injuries.
"Her story is really one of great strength and courage helping other passengers off the train in spite of her own very severe pain," Blumenthal said. "She eventually had to be helped off herself."
The crash damaged the tracks and threatened to snarl travel in the Northeast Corridor. The crash also caused Amtrak to suspend service between New York and Boston.
"The damage is absolutely staggering," Blumenthal said, describing the shattered interior of cars and tons of metal tossed around. "I feel that we are fortunate that even more injuries were not the result of this very tragic and unfortunate accident."
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy said it was "frankly amazing" people weren't killed on scene.
Both said new Metro-North Railroad cars built with higher standards may have saved lives.
Metro-North said train service will remain suspended between South Norwalk and New Haven until further notice. Railroad officials said rebuilding the two tracks and restore train service "will take well into next week."
"We want our customers to know that while you travel on Metro-North, you can remain confident that your safety, and the safety of our employees, is always the first priority in everything we do," said Howard Permut, President of MTA Metro-North Railroad.
NTSB investigators arrived Saturday and are expected to be on site for seven to 10 days. They will look at the brakes and performance of the trains, the condition of the tracks, crew performance and train signal information, among other things.
When the NTSB has concluded the on-site phase of its investigation, Metro-North will begin to remove the damaged rail cars and remaining debris. The process requires specialized, heavy equipment that will be in place by Sunday, officials said. Only after the damaged train cars have been removed can Metro-North begin the work of rebuilding the damaged tracks and overhead wires.
"It is a significant undertaking that could take days to complete," MTA said in a statement.
The NTSB has allowed Metro-North to begin removing some of the track and wire from the scene.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said commuters should make plans for alternative travel through the area and urged them to consult the state Department of Transportation website for information.
Weener said data recorders on board are expected to provide the speed of the trains at the time of the crash and other information.
"Our mission is to understand not just what happened but why it happened and determine ways of preventing it from happening again," Weener said.
About 700 people were on board the Metro-North trains when one heading east from New York City's Grand Central Terminal to New Haven derailed at about 6:10 p.m. just outside Bridgeport, transit and Bridgeport officials said. Passengers described a chaotic, terrifying scene of crunching metal and flying bodies.
A spokeswoman for St. Vincent Medical Center said late Saturday that 46 people from the crash were treated there, with six of them admitted. All were in stable condition, she said.
A Bridgeport Hospital spokesman said 26 people from the crash were treated there, with three of them admitted. One was in critical condition and two were in stable condition, he said. The other 23 were released.
Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch said the disruption caused by the crash could cost the region's economy millions of dollars.
Passenger Frank Bilotti said he was returning from a business trip in Boston on the westbound train when it crashed.
"Everybody was pretty much tossed around," said Bilotti, 53, of Westport, who wasn't injured other than a sore neck.
Firefighters used ladders to help people evacuate after the derailed cars dug into the banks of the tracks, Bilotti said.
"There were people on stretchers," he said. "There were people lying on the ground."
Blumenthal credited first responders, saying their "quick reactions and heroic efforts undoubtedly saved lives."
The MTA operates the Metro-North Railroad, the second-largest commuter railroad in the nation. The Metro-North main lines — the Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven — run northward from New York City's Grand Central Terminal into suburban New York and Connecticut.
At Grand Central, Frances Liu and her family were trying to get to New Haven, where Liu is graduating from Yale. A train could get them only as far north as Stamford.
"And then we'll rent a car and drive," she said.
Liu's parents had flown in from China for her graduation and were touring the country around her commencement. But the car-rental plan could face a snag — Liu never got a driver's license, although her parents had their Chinese licenses.
"My mom can drive. So I hope it'll be OK!" Liu said as she rushed off to decide on a train.
The last significant train collision involving Metro-North occurred in 1988 when a train engineer was killed in Mount Vernon, N.Y., when one train empty of passengers rear-ended another, railroad officials said.
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Associated Press writers Michael Melia in Hartford, Conn., Susan Haigh in Fairfield, Conn., and Verena Dobnik in New York City contributed to this report.
Firefighters were alerted at 1:17 a.m. Saturday to the blaze at the single-story home in Newnan, about 40 miles southwest of Atlanta. Georgia state Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens ruled that the fire was accidental and appeared to have originated in an electrical panel in the home's den area, said Glenn Allen, the commissioner's spokesman.
The fire killed Alonna T. McCrary, 27, as well as her 5-year-old daughter Eriel McCrary and 2-year-old daughter Nikia White, according to Allen. Two other children — Messiah White, 3, and McKenzie Florence, 2 — also died. Allen said the two were sleeping over at the home.
A fifth child, 11-year-old Nautica McCrary, escaped the burning home and was taken to a hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. Allen said she has since been released.
Newnan police Chief Buster Meadows said the older girl's mother was able to get her safely out of the burning house.
"The mother woke her up and told her to run," Meadows said. "There was someone outside who she ran to, and the mother went back after the others. Neither her nor the other four children made it out."
By the time firefighters arrived, Meadows said, the house was completely engulfed in flames.
Neighbor Jemeka Beadles said McCrary's running back into the home was a testament to the kind of mother she was.
"She did what any woman would do in that situation," Beadles said.
Beadles said Eriel had recently graduated from pre-kindergarten. "Her mom had just put all her little graduation pictures on Facebook with her cap and gown on," she said. "It seems unreal, it just seems so unreal."
McCrary's cousin, Tamara Terrell, said she had lived in the house for nearly four years before McCrary moved in. Terrell cried as she sat with others across the street and recalled having problems with the home's gas and electrical system before she moved out in January. Terrell said McCrary moved into the house the next month.
But landlord Glenn Marlowe, of Moreland, said, "There was never an electrical problem in the house, period." He said he hadn't owned the home for very long and couldn't provide additional information.
Coweta County property records show that the landlord's wife, Peggy Marlowe, has owned the house since March 2011. Tax records list her as the owner of six residential properties in the county, including the house where she and her husband live in Moreland.
Firefighters found the charred remains of a smoke detector inside the home but it was unclear whether the device worked, Allen said.
The burned house was still surrounded by yellow tape 12 hours after the fire. Its brick walls were charred and the roof had gaping holes exposing the rafters. Soot covered a car parked in the driveway.
Before noon, friends and relatives had started a makeshift memorial of items left beside the mailbox. Neighbors tied a cluster of balloons— one reading "We Love You" — to the mailbox and left candles, teddy bears and a small cross. A pair of bicycles, one pink and one purple, also had been left near the growing memorial. One neighbor used spray paint to write a Bible verse on a blanket, then left it on the lawn.
Neighbors said the fire devastated the close-knit community, but they vowed to stay strong for the surviving child and for one another.
"We're country folks. We did a lot of things together — raised our kids together, played together, we cry together, we eat together," Belinda Beasely said. "We don't have that much, but we learn to love each other and appreciate what we got."
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Associated Press writer Russ Bynum in Savannah, Ga., contributed to this report.
(CNN) -- American officials say there is strong evidence that Shiite militias in Iraq are using Iranian weapons to attack U.S. troops, comments that followed reports that Iraqi security forces began cracking down on the groups near Iran's border.
Materials found following recent attacks against U.S. troops "have been traced back to Iranian origin," an official told CNN. The claim supports the U.S. military position that the militias are backed by Iran, a charge Tehran has long denied.
The material collected indicates the militias are using Iranian materials in "Improvised Rocket-Assisted Munitions" attacks against U.S. forces, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Saturday. The official was not authorized to release the information to the media.
The munitions, or IRAMS, are metal canisters packed with explosives and propelled by rockets. IRAMS along with armor-piercing grenades are believed responsible for the majority of U.S. deaths in recent months, the official said.
The official acknowledged the weapons could have been assembled and manufactured elsewhere, but said IRAMS are a signature weapon of the militant group Kataib Hezbollah, which is "funded by Iran and receives training there. "
The news about the weapons arose as Iraqi security forces began a crackdown in the volatile Maysan province, a Shiite stronghold in southern Iraq that serves as one of the main arteries from Iran.
The U.S. military has not been asked by the Iraqi government "to provide any substantial assistance so far to the operations reported in Maysan province," Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, told CNN.
Iraq's southern provinces make up the majority of the Shiite heartland, home to the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf. It is in this area where a majority of the Shiite militia attacks have been launched against U.S. troops, who operate from a number of bases in the region.
"While it is clear these militias receive training and weapons from Iran -- using them as proxies for Iran's own agendas in the region -- we have no evidence of Iranian forces being directly engaged in the recent violence in Iraq," Buchanan said in an email late Saturday.
Buchanan said the United States is encouraged by the Iraqi operation, though the security in Iraq remains complex.
While violence has dramatically fallen off since the height of sectarian violence that nearly tore the country apart, attacks and bombings remain a daily occurrence.
The recent increase in attacks pushed June's death toll to the highest this year for Iraqi security forces and civilians. More than 270 people, including 155 civilians, were killed in attacks, Iraqi authorities said.
Fourteen U.S. soldiers were also killed in combat-related incidents in June, the largest loss of life among U.S. troops in Iraq since 2008, according to CNN figures.
The roughly 47,000 American troops in Iraq are due to withdraw by January 1, 2012, under a U.S.-Iraqi security pact, though Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is consulting with lawmakers over whether to request troops stay beyond the deadline.
The U.S. military has said the Shiite-militias -- Kataib Hezbollah, Asaib al Haq, and the Promise Day Brigade -- are using the bombings to try to take credit for driving American forces out of the country.
"If anything, these groups have proven to be resilient and we have no doubt they will continue to conduct violent attacks in the months ahead," Buchanan said.
He said Iraq's best weapon against the violence was to continue targeting the groups.CNN's Fattah Mahmood Fattah contributed to this report.KABUL (AFP) – The process of handing control from foreign to Afghan security forces and officials in seven areas of Afghanistan will start from late July, a senior official said Thursday.
Ashraf Ghani, a former finance minister who is now in charge of the transition process, said that the much-heralded transition process would start between July 14 and 21.
President Hamid Karzai had previously indicated that transition would start at some point during the Afghan solar month of Saratan which ends on July 22 but Ghani's comments give the most precise timing yet.
"The exact date of transition is from 23 to 30 of Saratan (July 14 to 21)," he said.
Under the transition process Afghan forces and officials will take more responsibility for security and their own affairs, allowing a gradual withdrawal of foreign troops.
Some 10,000 US troops will leave Afghanistan this year and 33,000 will go by next summer, President Barack Obama said this month.
All foreign combat troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014. There are around 150,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, nearly 100,000 of which are from the US, battling a near ten-year Taliban-led insurgency.
Ghani spoke after a conference attended by the governors of the seven safer areas of Afghanistan which are in the first wave of transition, plus the country's defence and interior ministers and head of the intelligence service.
He said that transition in the seven areas would be "simultaneous."
Western officials say the whole process in these areas -- which include the cities of Mazar-i-Sharif, Herat and Lashkar Gah in the volatile southern province of Helmand -- could take up to 18 months to implement.
SANAA (Reuters) – A senior U.S. official held talks on Wednesday with government officials in Yemen, which is teetering on the brink of civil war over President Ali Abdullah Saleh's refusal to meet protesters' demands to step down.
The United States and Saudi Arabia fear that a power vacuum and tribal warfare in Yemen will be exploited by the local wing of al Qaeda to launch attacks in the region and beyond.
On Wednesday, dozens of al Qaeda militants escaped from a prison in the city of al-Mukalla in southern Yemen, a region where security forces and militants often clash.
A Yemeni government source said Jeffrey Feltman, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, would meet Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi and Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is acting president.
He was also due to hold talks with Saleh's son, Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had been widely thought to be next in line for the presidency until protests broke out earlier this year.
Saleh is in Saudi Arabia recovering from injuries sustained in an attack on his palace in Sanaa nearly three weeks ago.
Feltman's talks will cover a transfer of power from the president to his deputy, the government source said.
As commander of the Republican Guards, the main strike force in Yemen, Ahmed Ali holds an influential position in the country of 23 million, which sits on the southern border of Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter.
Saleh has defied calls from global leaders, elements in his own military and tens of thousands of protesters to end his 33- year-old rule, which has brought Yemen close to financial ruin.
He has also exasperated his rich Gulf Arab neighbors by three times agreeing to step down, only to pull out of a power transition plan at the last minute and cling on to power.
AL QAEDA MILITANTS ESCAPE FROM PRISON
In an early bid to placate protesters demanding his ouster, Saleh promised not to hand power to his son, but many Yemenis say Saleh relatives including Ahmed Ali still hold key levers of power, blocking any transition without Saleh's consent.
Opposition parties allied with youth activists have also insisted that Saleh formally hand over power to Hadi as a step toward a new government and democracy.
An aide to Saleh said on Wednesday his health was on the mend and that he had been receiving guests and giving orders on Yemen's day-to-day affairs, including power and fuel shortages.
"The president has rejected a request from several members of his family to come to Riyadh to visit him, and stressed that he will return home soon," Ahmed al-Sufi, the president's media secretary, told Reuters.
Dozens of al Qaeda militants escaped from a jail in Mukalla following an attack on the compound. State media said three were killed in a clash with troops and two were recaptured.
"Ten of the escapees are dangerous elements who belonged to a cell that had attacked government officials and tourists," a local security official told Reuters.
One soldier was killed and two were wounded when militants opened fire on al-Munawara prison in Mukalla, a security official said.
"The militants opened fire on the prison gates and exchanged fire with the guards, injuring two and killing one," the security official said, adding that 62 prisoners had fled.
All the prisoners were Yemeni and most had been jailed after returning from Iraq where they fought in militant ranks, he said.
(Reporting by Mohamed Sudam in Sanaa and Mohammed Mukhashaf in Aden; writing by Sami Aboudi; editing by Alistair Lyon)
SANAA (Reuters) – A senior U.S. official is holding talks on Wednesday with government officials in Yemen, which is teetering on the brink of civil war over President Ali Abdullah Saleh's refusal to meet protesters' demands to step down.
The United States and ally Saudi Arabia fear that a power vacuum and tribal warfare in Yemen will be exploited by the local wing of al Qaeda to launch attacks in the region and beyond.
On Wednesday, dozens of al Qaeda militants escaped from a prison the city of al-Mukalla in southern Yemen, the latest in a series of increasingly deadly clashes between security forces and militants in the south of the country.
A Yemeni government source said Jeffrey Feltman, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, will meet Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi and Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is acting president.
He is also due to hold talks with Saleh's son, Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had been widely thought to be next in line for the presidency until protests broke out earlier this year.
Saleh is in Saudi Arabia recovering from injuries sustained in an attack on his palace in Sanaa nearly three weeks ago.
Talks will focus on "the situation in Yemen and the issue of the transfer of power" by the president to his deputy, the government source said.
As commander of the Republican Guards, the main strike force in Yemen, Ahmed Ali holds sway in the country of 23 million, which sits on the southern border of Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter.
Saleh has defied calls from global leaders, elements in his own military and tens of thousands of protesters to end his 33 year-rule, which has brought Yemen close to financial ruin.
He has also exasperated his rich Gulf Arab neighbors by three times agreeing to step down, only to pull out of a power transition plan at the last minute and cling on to power.
AL QAEDA MILITANTS ESCAPE FROM PRISON
In an early bid to placate protesters demanding his ouster, Saleh guaranteed he would not hand power down to his son, but many Yemenis say key members of Saleh's family including Ahmed Ali remain firmly in control of key levers of power, blocking any handover of power without Saleh's consent.
Opposition parties allied with youth activists have also insisted that Saleh formally hand over power to Hadi as a step toward a new government and democracy.
An aide to Saleh said on Wednesday his health was on the mend and that he had been receiving guests and giving instructions on day-to-day affairs in Yemen, including a power cut and fuel shortages.
"The president has rejected a request from several members of his family to come to Riyadh to visit him, and stressed that he will return home soon," said Ahmed al-Sufi, the president's media secretary told Reuters.
Dozens of al Qaeda militants escaped from a jail in southern Yemen on Wednesday following an attack on the compound.
One soldier was killed and two were wounded when militants opened fire on al-Munawara prison in the southern port city of al-Mukalla, a security official said.
"The militants opened fire on the prison gates and exchanged fire with the guards, injuring two and killing one," the security official said, adding that 62 prisoners had fled.
All the prisoners were Yemeni and most of them had been jailed after returning from Iraq where they fought in militant ranks, he said.
(Reporting by Mohamed Sudam, Writing by Sami Aboudi)
(CNN) -- Three miners were trapped Monday in a Bell County, Kentucky, coal mine but were unhurt, according to the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Communications were established with the miners, who were trapped behind water in the Jellico No. 1 mine, and emergency responders were speaking with them every 15 minutes, Mine Safety and Health Administration spokeswoman Amy Louviere said in a statement.
Responders were using four pumps to remove water from the mine, according to Louviere.
The mine flooded after heavy overnight rain made a diversion ditch fail, filling the mine and trapping the miners only 600 feet away from the entrance, according to a statement released by the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet.
The trapped miners are in the highest location in the mine, and the water has stopped coming in, said Rachel Riddle, fiancee of trapped miner Pernell Witherspoon. The availability of food and supplies is unknown, but there is plenty of oxygen for the miners, Riddle said.
The Kentucky Energy Cabinet identified the other two miners as Doug Warren and Russell Asher.
Riddle said she was waiting in an area church and receiving half-hour updates from the mine safety agency, but she couldn't speak to Witherspoon directly.
Officials have no estimated time for rescue, but maintain that it will be successful, the Cabinet's statement said.CNN's Devon Sayers and Deanna Proeller contributed to this report.JUBA, Sudan (Reuters) – Shelling between northern and southern Sudanese troops forced aid workers to evacuate the town of Agok at the southern tip of the disputed Abyei region on Friday, a humanitarian official said.
The country's south is just over three weeks away from declaring independence, but Khartoum and Juba have yet to decide who should control the fertile, oil-producing Abyei region, raising fears the two sides could return to open conflict.
Khartoum seized Abyei's main town on May 21, pushing as far south as the Kiir River, known as Bahr al-Arab in the north. The waterway has since become the front line between the two sides.
"This morning, from about 10 a.m., there was shelling on both sides of the river. Later there was shelling just a little bit north of Agok ... All humanitarians are being pulled out of Agok," the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.
The southern army said it had clashed with northern troops in the area, but it was not immediately clear if that was connected to the reported shelling near Agok.
A spokesman for the northern military was not immediately available to comment.
The southern military said it exchanged fire with northern forces in Abyei Wednesday. The northern army denied the report, suggesting internal southern rebel militias may have been behind the clashes.
Southern army spokesman Philip Aguer said there had been more clashes Friday, but did not give details.
"There was a clash in the same bridge area. The SAF (the northern Sudanese Armed Forces) came back. SPLA (the south's Sudan People's Liberation Army) fought them," he said. "We think the area might be overrun by SAF."
Negotiators from both sides have been meeting in neighboring Ethiopia since Sunday. Despite reaching an agreement "in principle" to demilitarize Abyei, no final deal has emerged yet.
Southerners voted for independence in a January referendum promised in a 2005 peace agreement that ended a long and brutal civil war. About 2 million people died in that conflict.
(Reporting by Jeremy Clarke; writing and additional reporting Alex Dziadosz in Khartoum; editing by Andrew Roche)
MAIDAN SHAR, Afghanistan – An Afghan official says a suicide bomber has killed three people in an attack against an administrative building in restive eastern Paktia province.
District chief Allah Gul Ahmadzai says the bombing occurred late Wednesday afternoon in the Sayed Karam district of Paktia, which borders with Pakistan. He says the bomber was wearing an explosives vest and blew himself up just 2 yards (meters) from the front gate of the district headquarters. The bomb killed three civilians, including a 13-year-old boy, and blew out windows in the compound. There was no other damage.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
MAIDAN SHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — A suicide bomber killed eight people and wounded four in a strike Wednesday on a governor's office in the northeast, while a mortar targeted a building where NATO and Afghan officials were inaugurating the country's largest police training facility in central Afghanistan.
The two attacks, which occurred at about the same time, were a stark reminder that insurgents can strike anywhere in this volatile country.
Provincial spokesman Halim Ayar said the bomber blew himself up about 220 yards (200 meters) from the office of Governor Azizul Rahman Tawab in the northeast Kapisa province. He said four of the dead were police officers and four were civilians. All the wounded were civilians, he added.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement that seven people were killed, including two police officers and five civilians. It added that seven others were wounded, including a police officer. The discrepancy in the casualty numbers, which is common in the aftermath of such attacks, could not immediately be resolved.
"The leadership of Ministry of Interior of Afghanistan condemns this inhumane and cowardly suicide attack. Such attacks will never weaken the determination of the Afghan National Police," read the ministry statement.
Meanwhile, in central Wardak province, a mortar landed next to a large building where Afghanistan's second vice president, Mohammed Karim Khalili and Interior Minister Bismullah Khan Mohammadi, along with NATO officials, celebrated the opening of the flagship center of a multibillion dollar NATO program to train Afghan national security forces ahead of a planned withdrawal of U.S.-led coalition forces at the end of 2014.
The deafening blast shook the building and more than 500 police recruits ducked for cover. Gunshots rang out after the attack. Bodyguards rushed Afghan and NATO officials into a hardened shelter before evacuating them on helicopters.
The area has seen increasing attacks by insurgents as the Taliban press a spring campaign against Afghan and NATO forces.
It was unclear if Khalili, who was born in Wardak, was the intended target of the attack, but the mortar seemed to have been aimed at the building where he had just finished delivering an address.
The $106 million facility currently houses 725 recruits but will expand to 3,000, making it the largest facility of its kind in the country. A mostly U.S. funded program has been spending about $10 billion a year in 2010 and 2011 alone to train, equip and build infrastructure for a range of Afghan forces, including police, soldiers and an air force. That program calls for increasing the number of Afghan police to 134,000 by October from the 81,509 of two years ago.
U.S. Maj. Gen. James Mallory told The Associated Press that NATO would be able to properly train and support an estimated 157,000 police officers before the coalition's planned withdrawal in 2014.
However, he acknowledged there would be long-term legacy costs that the international community would need to bear for the country as it struggles economically, especially as 86 percent of incoming recruits cannot read or write.
"We're dealing with a lost generation," Mallory said. He spoke just before the mortar attack.
Also Wednesday, in the southern province of Kandahar, the governor's office said NATO and Afghan troops killed 14 armed insurgents. Nine were killed after crossing the Pakistan border, while five were killed while allegedly trying to plant roadside bombs, the governor's office said.
A rocket attack in Kandahar city wounded four civilians in the Aymo Mina district, provincial police chief Gen. Abdul Raziq said.
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Associated Press writer Mirwais Khan in Kandahar, Afghanistan contributed to this report.
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Jon Gambrell can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.
Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's intelligence agency has arrested a person who rented a safe house to the CIA before American special forces killed Osama bin Laden, as well as suspected CIA informants, a source familiar with the arrests told CNN Wednesday
A second official confirmed that Pakistan had detained informants who gave information to the CIA before the raid but said he did not know the exact number of people arrested or when it happened.
The revelations, first reported by The New York Times, are likely to further strain what has become a rocky relationship between the two countries.
CIA Director Leon Panetta discussed the arrests Friday with Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani and Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, Pakistan's head of military intelligence, the official said. A United States official confirmed that the discussion had taken place but would not give details about the arrests.
The first Pakistani official did not say whether the owner of the safe house was suspected of being a CIA informant. He asked not to be named discussing sensitive internal matters.
The second Pakistani official asked to remain anonymous because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Panetta visited Pakistan last week, just over a month after Navy SEALs entered Pakistan secretly and killed bin Laden, further heightening tensions between Washington and Islamabad.
A Pakistani military spokesman confirmed that there were "a number of people arrested in Abbottabad after the raid on the Osama bin Laden compound," but said he could not say if the people were CIA officers.
Some were seized at "a house in Abbottabad that was used to monitor the bin Laden compound activities," said Syed Azmat Ali, the military spokesman. "They could have been Pakistanis who were informants to the CIA."
Ali said those arrests were made by Pakistan's powerful military intelligence agency, the ISI, "immediately after the raid, so this is not a new piece of information."
He and the intelligence official who asked not to be named were responding to reports in the New York Times that Pakistan had arrested five CIA informants who gave information to the United States before the raid on bin Laden's hideout.
The newspaper attributed the report to "American officials" without naming them.
It said one of those arrested was a Pakistani army major who kept records of license plate numbers on cars that visited the bin Laden hideout. Ali, the Pakistani military spokesman said that was "categorically" not true.
It also cited a damning assessment of Pakistan's cooperation with American counter-terror efforts by a top CIA official.
Deputy CIA director Michael J. Morell rated Pakistan's help at a three on a scale of one to 10, the Times said, quoting "officials familiar with the exchange."
Asked Wednesday by CNN to rate the Pakistani spy agency's relationship with the CIA from a scale of one to 10, military spokesman Ali said four.
Panetta, who has been nominated to be secretary of defense, told Congress in confirmation hearings last week that, "The relationship with Pakistan is at the same time one of the most critical and yet one of the most complicated and frustrating relationships that we have."
The relationship between the two countries has been in a downward spiral over disputes about how to pursue counterterrorism efforts.
The United States believes Pakistan is not doing enough to go after al Qaeda and other extremists, while the Pakistanis are upset with what they consider to be unilateral steps taken by the United States within their borders.
The United States is suspected of carrying out regular strikes by unmanned aircraft targeting suspected terrorists in Pakistan -- a suspected strike on Wednesday, killing 10 suspected militants, two Pakistani officials said.
Pakistani officials believe there were more than 100 American drone strikes in their country in 2010, a record, according to CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen. They think most of the casualties were foot soldiers or civilians, not high-value terror targets, he said.
The New America Foundation in Washington, which maintains an independent count of reported drone strikes, says there were 118 in 2010, killing between 600 and 1,000 people.
Public opinion polling shows that nine out of 10 Pakistanis have an unfavorable view of the drone strikes.
Pakistanis were also angered by the case of Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor who was charged with killing two Pakistani men, then released after compensation was paid to their families.
Davis described the two men as attackers and said he shot them in self-defense. Lahore Police Chief Aslam Tareen, however, said the case was "clear-cut murder."
According to Davis, the shooting occurred January 27 after two men attacked him as he drove through a busy Lahore neighborhood, the U.S. Embassy has said.
U.S. officials originally said Davis was a diplomat and tried to claim diplomatic immunity, then later revealed that he was a CIA contractor.
CIA chief Panetta's unannounced visit last week was the latest in a series by U.S. officials -- including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen and Sen. John Kerry -- in efforts to smooth things over after bin Laden was killed in the SEALs raid.Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's intelligence agency has arrested a person who rented a safe house to the CIA before American special forces killed Osama bin Laden, as well as suspected CIA informants, a source familiar with the arrests told CNN Wednesday
A second official confirmed that Pakistan had detained informants who gave information to the CIA before the raid but said he did not know the exact number of people arrested or when it happened.
The revelations, first reported by The New York Times, are likely to further strain what has become a rocky relationship between the two countries.
CIA Director Leon Panetta discussed the arrests Friday with Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani and Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, Pakistan's head of military intelligence, the official said. A United States official confirmed that the discussion had taken place but would not give details about the arrests.
The first Pakistani official did not say whether the owner of the safe house was suspected of being a CIA informant. He asked not to be named discussing sensitive internal matters.
The second Pakistani official asked to remain anonymous because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Panetta visited Pakistan last week, just over a month after Navy SEALs entered Pakistan secretly and killed bin Laden, further heightening tensions between Washington and Islamabad.
A Pakistani military spokesman confirmed that there were "a number of people arrested in Abbottabad after the raid on the Osama bin Laden compound," but said he could not say if the people were CIA officers.
Some were seized at "a house in Abbottabad that was used to monitor the bin Laden compound activities," said Syed Azmat Ali, the military spokesman. "They could have been Pakistanis who were informants to the CIA."
Ali said those arrests were made by Pakistan's powerful military intelligence agency, the ISI, "immediately after the raid, so this is not a new piece of information."
He and the intelligence official who asked not to be named were responding to reports in the New York Times that Pakistan had arrested five CIA informants who gave information to the United States before the raid on bin Laden's hideout.
The newspaper attributed the report to "American officials" without naming them.
It said one of those arrested was a Pakistani army major who kept records of license plate numbers on cars that visited the bin Laden hideout. Ali, the Pakistani military spokesman said that was "categorically" not true.
It also cited a damning assessment of Pakistan's cooperation with American counter-terror efforts by a top CIA official.
Deputy CIA director Michael J. Morell rated Pakistan's help at a three on a scale of one to 10, the Times said, quoting "officials familiar with the exchange."
Asked Wednesday by CNN to rate the Pakistani spy agency's relationship with the CIA from a scale of one to 10, military spokesman Ali said four.
Panetta, who has been nominated to be secretary of defense, told Congress in confirmation hearings last week that, "The relationship with Pakistan is at the same time one of the most critical and yet one of the most complicated and frustrating relationships that we have."
The relationship between the two countries has been in a downward spiral over disputes about how to pursue counterterrorism efforts.
The United States believes Pakistan is not doing enough to go after al Qaeda and other extremists, while the Pakistanis are upset with what they consider to be unilateral steps taken by the United States within their borders.
The United States is suspected of carrying out regular strikes by unmanned aircraft targeting suspected terrorists in Pakistan -- a suspected strike on Wednesday, killing 10 suspected militants, two Pakistani officials said.
Pakistani officials believe there were more than 100 American drone strikes in their country in 2010, a record, according to CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen. They think most of the casualties were foot soldiers or civilians, not high-value terror targets, he said.
The New America Foundation in Washington, which maintains an independent count of reported drone strikes, says there were 118 in 2010, killing between 600 and 1,000 people.
Public opinion polling shows that nine out of 10 Pakistanis have an unfavorable view of the drone strikes.
Pakistanis were also angered by the case of Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor who was charged with killing two Pakistani men, then released after compensation was paid to their families.
Davis described the two men as attackers and said he shot them in self-defense. Lahore Police Chief Aslam Tareen, however, said the case was "clear-cut murder."
According to Davis, the shooting occurred January 27 after two men attacked him as he drove through a busy Lahore neighborhood, the U.S. Embassy has said.
U.S. officials originally said Davis was a diplomat and tried to claim diplomatic immunity, then later revealed that he was a CIA contractor.
CIA chief Panetta's unannounced visit last week was the latest in a series by U.S. officials -- including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen and Sen. John Kerry -- in efforts to smooth things over after bin Laden was killed in the SEALs raid.(CNN) -- A U.N. resolution justifies the targeting of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, a senior NATO military official with operational knowledge of the Libya mission told CNN Thursday.
Asked by CNN whether Gadhafi was being targeted, the NATO official declined to give a direct answer. The resolution applies to Gadhafi because, as head of the military, he is part of the control and command structure and therefore a legitimate target, the official said.
NATO has been ramping up pressure on the regime, employing helicopters last weekend for the first time against Gadhafi's forces. Explosions are heard often in Tripoli, evidence of allied air strikes.
NATO began bombing Libya on March 31, under a U.N. mandate to protect civilians who have been targeted by Gadhafi's military.
Resolution 1973 said allied forces could use "all necessary measures" to protect civilians.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Wednesday it is time to start planning for what to do in Libya after Gadhafi's departure "because Gadhafi's reign of terror is coming to an end."
In statement broadcast on state media, Gadhafi vowed a day before that "we will not surrender," even as NATO airstrikes bombarded his compound in Tripoli.
NATO recently announced its decision to extend its mission in Libya by 90 days.var cnnOmniPartner="TV-Anderson Cooper 360"Watch Anderson Cooper 360° weeknights 10pm ET. For the latest from AC360° click here.RANCHO PALO VERDES, California (AFP) – An AT&T official on Thursday called the health risk of cellphones a serious issue meriting more research but downplayed new studies warning of a link to a type of brain cancer.
Two days after World Health Organization cancer experts warned that electromagnetic fields generated by cellphones are "possibly carcinogenic to humans," the US telecoms giant's Ralph de la Vega said the data was not especially new.
"This is a serious issue," said De la Vega, chief executive of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets.
But "the WHO didn't do any new study," he added, saying their study was one year old.
"The industry should not have too much to worry about; nevertheless, we should continue to study" the issue, he said at the All Things Digital D9 conference in California.
Experts of the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer presented their evidence at a conference in Lyon, France on Tuesday that suggested mobile phone users may be at increased risk of glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer.
Although they cautioned that the scientific evidence showed only a possible link, not a proven one, they recommended the most intense phone users make use of texting and hands-free devices to reduce exposure to the dangerous fields.
"There is some evidence of increased risk of glioma" and another form of non-malignant tumor called acoustic neuroma, said IARC scientist Kurt Straif.
The global wireless industry group CTIA-The Wireless Association disputed the significance of the report, citing possible "bias" and "data flaws" in the studies.
SANAA, Yemen – Radical Islamists who overran a south Yemen town killed five soldiers in an ambush on Tuesday, security officials said, while fresh clashes broke out in the capital between security forces and fighters from the country's most powerful tribal confederation, edging the country toward civil war.
Almost four months of mass street protests across Yemen calling for democratic reforms and the ouster of longtime president Ali Abdullah Saleh have rocked the stability of this impoverished corner of the Arabian Peninsula. Saleh's security forces shot dead four protesters in the southern city of Taiz Monday, medics said, bringing the two-day death toll there to at least 25.
The upheaval in Yemen has sparked fears that militant groups will take over. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula operates in its weakly governed provinces along with a number of other radicals, like the ones who overran the town of Zinjibar near Yemen's south coast over the weekend.
A Yemeni security official said militants ambushed an army unit driving toward the town Tuesday, killing five soldiers and injuring 12. The militants fired on the army convoy from behind, forcing them to speed into an ambush where other gunmen fired on their cars.
The soldiers killed two militants before fleeing the area, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.
Hundreds of armed Islamists stormed the town last week, seizing banks and government offices before setting up barricades to solidify their control. Shelling by army units outside the city failed to dislodge them over the weekend while sending residents fleeing.
Resident Hilmi Ali, 21, said army shelling over the weekend appeared to fall randomly over the town, striking a mosque and four houses in his neighborhood and killing seven of his neighbors.
The Islamists overran a police administration building and intelligence office and could be seen over the weekend driving police cars around town, Ali said. Dozens of families fled.
"We walked on our feet to leave the city," he said by phone from the city of Aden.
It remains unclear whether the Islamists who seized Zinjibar are connected to al-Qaida. Other armed Islamist groups have sought refuge in the area, including some who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, and others who fought with Saleh's government in a 1994 civil war with the south.
Before Tuesday's ambush, the Interior Ministry said 22 soldiers had been killed since Friday. It remains unclear how many civilians and militants have been killed.
In the capital, Sanaa, fresh gunfights and rounds of artillery fire broke out Tuesday between government troops and fighters loyal to the country's most powerful tribal leader, marking the collapse of a fragile cease-fire.
The fighting brings head-to-head two of Yemen's most powerful men: Sheik Sadeq al-Ahmar, head of the country's Hasid tribal confederation and Saleh, who has heavily stocked the security forces with relatives and allies during his 33-year rule.
Clashes resumed overnight after the failure of a days-old cease-fire that ended last week's clashes, which killed 124 people. Tribal fighters withdrew Sunday from the Local Administration Ministry, one of more than a dozen ministries and government buildings they'd seized in the Hassaba neighborhood, also home to the family compound of Sheik Sadeq al-Ahmar, the Hasid leader.
Abdel-Qawi al-Qasi, a spokesman for al-Ahmar, said that Saleh's force broke the agreement by not withdrawing from buildings they had occupied, especially those around al-Amhar's house.
Clashes erupted early Tuesday and continued through the morning, with tribal fighters seizing a number of new buildings, including the upper house of parliament, the headquarters of Saleh's ruling party and a key street leading to the airport.
"Any place that poses any danger to us and they are firing at us from, we will take it," al-Qasi said.
Al-Qasi said the tribesmen had also seized the Interior Ministry. Yemeni state TV called the fighters "gangs" and denied they'd seized the building.
At least one person was killed — a man who was driving through the neighborhood, said witness Abdel-Waid Ali. Official information on casualties was not immediately available.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh has clung to power despite daily protests, defections by key allies and intense pressure from the United States and powerful neighbors like Saudi Arabia to transfer his powers.
His security forces have waged a brutal crackdown that has included sniper attacks on unarmed protesters, and he has several times pledged to step down under a deal with the opposition only to back out at the last minute.
Beyond the capital, violence also roiled the southern city of Taiz, which has been a hotbed of anti-government protests since the early days of the uprising.
Medics said government troops fired on protesters Tuesday, killing four and bringing the two-day death toll to at least 25.
Soldiers backed by tanks and bulldozers moved in over the weekend, smashing a tent camp the protesters had held in a central square and destroying a field hospital that had been set up in anticipation of such an attack.
On Tuesday, the U.N.'s human rights office in Geneva said it received reports from Yemen that more than 50 people have been killed by pro-government forces in Taiz since Sunday. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay cautioned that the reports "remain to be fully verified."
Pillay said in a statement that "such reprehensible acts of violence and indiscriminate attacks on unarmed civilians by armed security officers must stop immediately."
Government forces opened fire again Tuesday on demonstrators who had regrouped for marches on several main streets, said activist Boushra al-Maqtali.
Protesters set fire to tires and threw stones at the police, who fired rubber bullets, live ammunition and tear gas to disperse them, said another activist, Ghazi al-Samie.
"The city is boiling," al-Samie said. "All shops have been closed and government employees did not go to work and armored military vehicles blocked all the roads leading to the city to prevent people from nearing districts to join the protesters."
(CNN) -- An official in Inner Mongolia is disputing an Amnesty International report that parts of the region are under martial law.
"We did not enforce martial law. Everything is normal," said Chao Lumen, an official with the information department of Xilingol prefecture.
In the report released Friday, Amnesty International detailed protests in and around the city of Xilinhot, the prefecture's seat of government.
"Nothing happened here. There were no demonstrations or protests," Chao said Monday.
The Amnesty report said Chinese authorities declared martial law in some parts of the autonomous region in an apparent response to days of protests.
The region has long been the scene of ethnic tension between Mongolians, who have lived in the area for centuries, and the Han people, who arrived in larger numbers after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Han people are the majority ethnic group in China.
According to the human rights organization, 2,000 Mongolian students took to the streets Wednesday in Xilinhot, in a show of solidarity with an ethnic Mongolian herder by the name of "Mergen," who was killed earlier this month when he was hit by a coal truck that was driven by ethnic Hans.
Amnesty reported that the drivers of the coal truck are both in custody of Chinese authorities.
In a clip posted to YouTube that purports to show that same demonstration, a large group of people, many of whom are young people wearing school uniforms, can be seen walking through the streets.
The students were marching toward the building that houses the regional government, shouting, "defend our land and defend our rights, according to the New York-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center. The group refers to the area as "southern" -- not "inner" -- Mongolia, and would like to see the region achieve independence or merge with Mongolia.
CNN could not independently verify the authenticity of the clip.
According to Amnesty, the protests, which started May 23, have been largely peaceful, but at least 18 people were reported injured in confrontations with police northeast of Xilinhot, in Right Ujimchin Banner, or Xi Wu Qi in Mandarin.
"The protests are a wake-up call for the authorities. As in other minority areas, authorities must start heeding the message rather than attacking the messengers," said Catherine Baber, Amnesty's Asia pacific deputy director.
Protesters say their culture is under threat as pastoral herders are pushed out from the grasslands and forced to move to the cities, or to places where animal grazing is not possible, according to Enghebatu Togochog, Director of the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center.
He traces the motivation for recent demonstrations to the Chinese central government's efforts, in recent years, to expand coal mining and production in areas that have traditionally been used for grazing.Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A bombing in northern Afghanistan that killed a top Afghan official and wounded a German general Saturday came as tribal leaders warned that insurgent attacks were discouraging some civilians from cooperating with security efforts, officials said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing at a high-level meeting of Afghan officials and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, the latest in a series of attacks that have rocked Afghanistan following the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
During meetings last week with senior Afghan ministers and ISAF officials in the volatile Zabul province, civilians "cautioned that insurgent intimidation has discouraged cooperation from some citizens," according to an ISAF statement released Saturday.
Provincial Gov. Mohammed Neseri warned residents to do their part to protect themselves.
"Insurgents cannot intimidate citizens if everyone is united in defending their homes and their villages," Neseri said, according to the statement.
The top coalition commander in Afghanistan has warned of a likely increase in high-profile attacks by insurgents looking to demonstrate their ability to strike. In a letter this month to ISAF forces, Army Gen. David Petraeus said the attacks may increase the risk of civilian casualties and put Afghan and ISAF forces in difficult situations.
The attack Saturday in the northern Takhar province town of Taloqan occurred at a high-level meeting of Afghan and coalition officials in a governor's office, a provincial spokesman said.
The officials were gathered to talk about security following a May 18 protest in front of a NATO compound where German soldiers opened fire on demonstrators, who they claim had become violent, German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters.
The blast killed seven people, including Gen. Dawood Dawood -- a well-known Afghan regional police chief who was one of the country's lead point-persons in eradicating opium poppy fields, said Faiz Mohammad Tawhidi, a spokesman for Takhar provincial Gov. Abdul Jabar Taqwa.
Dawood was a veteran anti-Soviet and anti-Taliban resistance commander, he said.
Also killed were two German soldiers, a provincial police chief, the governor's secretary and two guards, according to Tawhidi and Qari Sadiqullah, secretary of the provincial council.
Among the eight wounded was Maj. Gen. Markus Kneip, a veteran German officer and the regional head of the ISAFacross nine provinces of northern Afghanistan, de Maiziere said.
The provincial governor was also wounded, Taqwa said.
In a phone call to CNN, Taliban spokesman Zabulliah Mojahed claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mojahed said Taliban fighters targeted the officials because they were making plans in the meeting to "launch an operation against the Taliban in the north."
"After our mujahedeen found (out) about this meeting, then it was targeted by our suicide bomber," he told CNN from an unknown location.
ISAF spokesman Rear Adm. Vic Beck condemned what he called "the senseless murder of these Afghans and coalition members who have fought so hard for the people of Afghanistan.
"ISAF will remain relentless in our support to our Afghan partners to find those responsible and bring them to justice," he said.
The attack came two days after eight U.S. troops died when two improvised explosive devices blew up in Shorabak District, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Kandahar, according to ISAF.
That region -- on the opposite end of the country from where Saturday's attack occurred -- has been the site of a spate of recent violence after Taliban forces unleashed multiple attacks earlier this month in their so-called spring offensive.Washington (CNN) -- Osama bin Laden considered seeking a deal with Pakistan under which al Qaeda leaders in the country would be protected and, in return, al Qaeda would refrain from attacking Pakistan, a U.S. official told CNN Friday.
The revelation surfaced as American agents analyzed the documents that were seized in the May 2 raid of bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, according to the official, who was not authorized to speak on the record.
The documents show the al Qaeda leader communicated with his operations chief, Atiya Abdul Rahman, about a possible deal with Pakistan, the official said.
The New York Times first reported on the possible deal.
The official said there is no evidence an approach was ever made to any Pakistani officials to try to cut such a deal.
"This appeared to be a discussion inside al Qaeda," the official said.
Husain Haqqani, Pakistani ambassador to the United States, told CNN's Suzanne Malveaux that Pakistan is "not aware" of any such idea.
"The question is, 'Did he raise it with anyone?' The U.S. government clearly says that he did not. It was something that he and his associates were considering amongst themselves, Haqqani said.
"So if we knew something about it, we would have done something about it long ago."
In the aftermath of the raid, U.S. officials have said that they suspect elements of the Pakistani government knew of bin Laden's hideaway in Abbottabad. But Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said recently that was just a "supposition."
The U.S. official would say Friday only that the Pakistanis are conducting their own investigation and that the United States "has no evidence Pakistan was aware he was living in Abbottabad."
But the official stressed agents are still going through the material that was seized and whether there are any "links to people inside Pakistan is still an open question."
The official said the documents also confirmed a point that U.S. agents were aware of: That bin Laden vetoed a proposal to change the leadership of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
The documents say Rahman notified bin Laden that AQAP wanted to make Anwar al-Awlaki the leader of that group, the official said, but bin Laden did not go along.Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A suicide bombing ripped through a military hospital in Kabul on Saturday as a warning surfaced from the commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan of increased "high-profile attacks" over the summer.
In a memorandum to NATO's International Security Assistance Force, Gen. David Petraeus said it likely that insurgents will pursue such operations over the coming months in an attempt to demonstrate their ability to strike.
He called on international forces to balance their tactical needs with those of the civilian population.
"These attacks may increase the risk of civilian casualties and put Afghan and ISAF forces in difficult situations," Petraeus said in a memorandum made public Saturday.
"In the face of such enemy actions, we must continue our efforts to reduce civilian casualties to an absolute minimum."
The Kabul attack underscores Petraeus' warning.
Six people were killed and 26 others were injured in the bombing, according to Zahir Azimi, a ministry of defense spokesman.
A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility. Zabiullah Mojahed told CNN that 51 people had died and two of the group's members carried out suicide attacks on the Charsd Bester military.
"One of them detonated inside the eating place, and the second one was shot to death, and now the operation is over," he said.
"As a result, 51 people (have) been killed, including foreigners."
Afghan President Hamid Karzai deplored the action, and ISAF spokesman Rear Adm. Vic Beck, called the strike "abhorrent," saying it "represents the lowest, most cowardly attack."
The Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan Hospital, a 400 bed-hospital, is the largest medical military facility in the country and provides medical services to Afghan soldiers and their families, the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said.
The strike occured when medical students where at lunch, and the United Nations emphasized that international humanitarian law bans attacks on medical workers and hospitals.
"All medical personnel and facilities must be respected and protected in all circumstances. Further, directing an attack against a zone established to shelter wounded and sick persons, and civilians from the effects of hostilities, is also illegal and prohibited. As parties to the conflict, all anti-government elements have clear responsibilities under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and to not attack them," the U.N. Afghan mission said in a statement.
Petraeus' memorandum, posted on the ISAF website, comes as the Taliban and al Qaeda have claimed responsibility for an increased number of attacks against security forces in Afghanistan and U.S. targets in Pakistan.
Both groups have said many of the attacks were in retaliation after U.S. commandos killed Osama bin Laden this month.
Petraeus ordered forces to review civilian casualty directives, saying troops must achieve "the proper balance between aggressiveness and patience."
Anger in Afghanistan and Pakistan over civilian casualties has mounted in recent months following NATO air strikes that have killed dozens along their shared border.
In March, Defense Secretary Robert Gates offered a personal apology to Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the killings of nine boys in a helicopter attack targeting insurgents.
The apology came after Karzai said one made earlier by Petraeus was insufficient.
Weeks later, the international force said civilians were accidentally killed during a NATO airstrike in Afghanistan's Helmand province. The target was two vehicles believed to be carrying a Taliban leader, ISAF said.
Petraeus' warning also comes as he must decide on the number of troop reductions in Afghanistan to meet President Barack Obama's self-imposed deadline to begin withdrawing U.S. forces by July.
The president has repeatedly said he is confident the United States can meet the self-imposed deadline without compromising Afghan security, though military commanders and government officials have raised concern about the readiness of Afghan security forces.
Petraeus testified earlier this year before Congress about the plans, saying he was likely to recommend that some combat troops be among the first to return to the United States.
He has said significant progress has been made against the Taliban over the past five years. But he also has warned the progress is "fragile and reversible."
"We are at a pivotal moment in our work here, and I believe it would be valuable for every leader in ISAF to reread these documents and to internalize and employ the principles in them," Petraeus said in memorandum dated May 15, 2011.CNN's Matiullah Mati contributed to this reportCHICAGO/NEW YORK (Reuters) – The red hot trading debut of professional social networking company LinkedIn Corp is not raising any red flags for a top official at the U.S. Federal Reserve, whose flood of money some argue could fuel dangerous bubbles.
While declining to discuss any specific company, Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans made clear that he is withholding judgment over whether a new dotcom bubble is under way. LinkedIn shares more than doubled in their first day of trading, evoking memories of the excitement surrounding Internet stocks in the 1990s and comments made by former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan about how to recognize "irrational exuberance" building into an asset bubble.
"We are at one of those time periods where technology is changing dramatically, people are finding ways to use the technology in amazing ways, and I have no way of knowing that those aren't just exactly the right valuations," Evans told reporters after a speech in Chicago.
"Market functioning is pretty good at the moment, and so I would expect it would work out just about as well as you would expect -- which means that sometimes it's exactly the right price and other times it's higher or lower."
Analysts have faulted the Fed for keeping rates too low too long in the early 2000s, fueling the housing bubble whose collapse helped plunge the nation into its worst recession since the 1930s.
Some Fed officials, including Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher, have raised concerns that the Fed's current round of asset-buying may inadvertently fuel speculation and bubbles. Evans was asked about his views on asset bubbles after a speech in which he said the Fed should keep rates near zero for an extended period to help support the economy.
"I know that some people are concerned that exuberance is coming back a little too quickly in certain market segments," he said. But regulators are keeping a sharp eye out for problems, and the Fed is also watching the situation closely, he said.
"I'm hard pressed to second guess the market pricing mechanism for assets, as long as I think those markets are functioning appropriately," he said.
(Reporting by Ann Saphir in Chicago and Clare Baldwin and Alina Selyukh in New York; Editing by Gary Hill)
