'Several' including Afghan civilians killed in ISAF air attack

Oct 18, 2006, 15:52 GMT

Kabul - The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan announced Wednesday that 'several' civilians and insurgents had been killed in an air attack in southern Afghanistan.

ISAF said it had conducted a planned operation in Kandahar province on Tuesday night, which purpose was to 'detain individuals' involved in bombings in the Panjwayi district.

'Close air support was used in support of the operation,' an ISAF statement said.

The NATO-led force said that the 'air attack caused several civilian casualties along with an unknown number of insurgent casualties.'

The ISAF statement did not give the exact number of civilian deaths.

The statement said that the Commander of ISAF Regional Command (South), Brigadier General David Fraser, had spoken personally with the Governor of Kandahar about the operation.

An increasing number of civilians are being killed in operations involving foreign troops in Afghanistan. The Afghan government has repeatedly called on international troops to exercise more caution.