Afghan president condemns U.S. operation that killed 16

Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned a U.S. operation that he said killed 16 Afghan civilians, while hundreds of villagers denounced the American military during an angry demonstration on Sunday.

Karzai said the killing of innocent Afghans during U.S. military operations was strengthening the militants.

"Our goal is to improve our army and have the ability to defend our country ourselves as soon as possible, and not have civilian casualties anymore as we again had yesterday in Laghman," he said during a ceremony for newAfghan army officer graduates.

He also announced that his Ministry of Defence sent the U.S. government a draft technical agreement that sought to give Afghanistan more oversight over U.S. military operations. The same letter has also been sent to NATO headquarters.

In recent weeks, Karzaihas increasingly lashed out at his Western backers over the issue of civilian casualties, even as U.S. politicians and a top NATO official have publicly criticized Karzai for the slow pace of progress here.

The back and forth comes as the new administration of U.S. President Barack Obama must decide whether to support Karzai as he seeks re-election later this year as part of the United States's overall Afghan strategy.

Karzai's latest criticism follows a Saturday raid in Laghman province that the U.S. says killed 15 armed militants,as well asa woman with a rocket-propelled grenade, but that Afghan officials say killed civilians. Two women and three children were among the 16 dead civilians, Karzai said in a statement.

In Laghman's capital, Mehterlam, hundreds of angry demonstrators denounced the U.S. military on Sunday and demanded an end to overnight raids.

U.S. military leaders, victims' relatives and Afghan officials, including two top Karzai advisers, met at the governor's compound to discuss the issue, Gov. Latifullah Mashal said.

Civilian deaths during U.S. operations have been a huge source of friction between the Afghan government, and U.S. and NATO militaries.