In Kabul the protesters shouted "death to America and its Afghan puppets" at the end of their peaceful march through the city centre, according to AFP. One of the organisers, Hafizullah Rasekh said, "Our demonstration is to condemn the invasion. We want the US military and their NATO allies to leave Afghanistan immediately. We want them to stop killing innocent Afghans."

A female protestor, Jamila, who said she was a housewife added,"I don't see any difference between the atrocities of the Taliban and the Americans. Both are killing innocent people."

Thursday's peaceful demonstration in downtown Kabul was meant to mark the October 7 invasion of Afghanistan 10 years ago, triggered by the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States.

Civilian casualties

The United Nations says 1,462 civilians were killed in the first half of this year and insurgents were responsible for 80 percent of the deaths.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) says it does all it can to limit civilian casualties in operations - the issue is highly controversial and incidents resulting in civilian deaths have been repeatedly condemned by President Hamid Karzai.

Agencies: AFP, AP (mj)
Editor: Grahame Lucas