Karzai condemns US drone hit On Civilian.

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Afghan President Hamid Karzai "strongly condemned" a US drone strike that killed a child and wounded two women, his office said Friday.

A drone attack on Thursday morning on a house in the Faqiran area of Helmand province killed a 2-year-old child and injured two women, it said in a statement. The attack took place during an impasse between Karzai and the United States over a long-term security agreement. The US has warned the Afghan president it would plan for the withdrawal of all US and NATO troops by the end of 2014, unless he signs the agreement.

Some 2,500 tribal elders in a Loya Jirga or Grand Assembly last week approved the security agreement, asking Karzai to sign it before the end of this year. Karzai said he has conditions to be met by Washington before signing. One of them is an immediate ban on raids on houses.

"This attack shows that American forces do not respect the lives and security of the people of Afghanistan and the Loya Jirga decision," Karzai was quoted as saying by the statement.

"For as long as such arbitrary acts and oppression of foreign forces continue, the security agreement with the United States will not be signed."

NATO-led force in Afghanistan says will probe Thursday's airstrike, "deeple regrets" any civilian deaths

The NATO-led force in Afghanistan said it would investigate Thursday's airstrike in Helmand that local officials say killed a child and has further aggravated a stand-off between the Afghan president and the US government.

"ISAF deeply regrets any civilian casualties caused by this airstrike," the force said in a statement.

President Hamid Karzai said the killing demonstrated the United States did not respect the lives of Afghan civilians and if such attacks continued, he would not sign a bilateral security pact.

Wrangling over the deal has lasted about a year. The pact aims to shape a US military presence in Afghanistan after 2014, when most foreign forces are due to leave the country.

Without a pact, US officials have warned the United States could pull out all of its troops.