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allegation and was investigating the incident late Saturday in Paktia province.
• "We acknowledge that coalition forces were conducting an operation in Paktia province against a large number of insurgents last night and we also are aware of the media reports today of civilian casualty allegations in that area," said Army Lt. Col. Jimmie Cummings, a spokesman for the NATO coalition.
• "We are currently looking into this and will release more information as appropriate."
• Actions of the Taliban kill more civilians than foreign forces, but the deaths of citizens caught in the crossfire of the decade-long war continue to be an irritant in President Hamid Karzai's relationship with his international partners.
• ___

• CAIRO (AP) -- The two surviving candidates in Egypt's presidential election appealed Saturday for support from voters who rejected them as polarizing extremists in the first round even as they faced a new challenge from the third runner-up who contested the preliminary results.

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