KABUL (AFP) – Afghanistan will review regulations governing the presence of tens of thousands of foreign troops, Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta said Saturday.

The review was demanded by parliament after U.S. air strikes killed civilians in the western province of Farah this month.
An Afghan government investigation says 140 civilians died, making it one of the deadliest such incidents since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban.
An interim administration in 2002 signed agreements with foreign troops regulating their activities in Afghanistan but times have changed, Spanta said.
“Today we have an elected government, an elected parliament, free media,” the minister told reporters. “This requires the agreements we had signed as a country then, with no government, seven years ago, to be reviewed.”
“It is our duty and responsibility to defend the rights and dignity of the Afghans. It is our duty and responsibility to know why Afghans are jailed. It is our responsibility to see whether our compatriots are tortured or not.”
For the government to do this “we must have new agreements with our allies,” the minister said.
Similar demands were made after the previous most deadly incident for civilians -- caught up in the battle between insurgents and security forces -- in the western province of Herat last August.
UN and Afghan investigations said around 90 civilians were killed; the U.S. military said at least 33 civilians and 22 militants died.
Afghan and foreign security forces have since signed an agreement committing the U.S. and NATO-led deployments to measures to reduce harm to civilians.
There are roughly 70,000 international soldiers in Afghanistan, fighting Taliban and other extremists said to pose a threat to the region and the West, as well as helping the fragile Afghan government establish its authority.
The United States has committed 17,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan this year, with 2,800 moving into place over recent weeks.
Human rights groups have cautioned that more troops could mean more civilian casualties.
“The issue of civilian casualties is a main source of concern for the people of Afghanistan as well as for the government,” Spanta said.
“Unfortunately we see that this still continues.”-