International forces claim "several" Taliban killed in Afghanistan

Sep 24, 2009, 9:56 GMT

   Kabul - NATO-led international forces claimed Thursday to have killed 'several militants' at two locations in southern Afghanistan, but residents in one village said an operation by foreign troops left six civilians dead.

   Afghan soldiers and international security forces conducted operations in the Garmsir district of the southern province of Helmand and a village southwest of Kandahar city, the capital of the province of the same name, the military alliance said in a statement.

   During the operations, the combined forces came under 'hostile fire,' the statement said, adding that the combined forces responded the attacks and killed 'several militants.'

   The statement did not specify when each of the operations was carried out other than saying the incidents happened on September 23-24.

   Meanwhile, residents from Arghandab district in Kandahar province, who took several wounded people to Kandahar city hospital, said six civilians were killed in a US air attack on Wednesday night.

   'The US helicopters hit houses in Nagahan village and killed six ordinary people,' Haji Manan, a villager, told the German Press Agency dpa.

   Abdul Qayoum Pukhla, head of the health department in the province, said seven wounded people were taken to hospital on Thursday morning.

   It was not immediately known if both the residents and military were talking about the same incident.

   Civilian casualties during the foreign military operations have become the most delicate issue in Afghanistan. NATO's new commander in Afghanistan, US general Stanley McChrystal, has repeatedly said that protecting civilians was NATO's top priority.

   Afghan and NATO officials fear that mouthing civilian casualties at the hands of foreign troops could undermine support for the war in Afghanistan, which has already become unpopular both in Afghanistan and in troop-contributing countries.

   More than 100,000 troops from 42 nations are currently stationed in Afghanistan. McChrystal in his report to the US Defense Department this week warned that the mission would 'likely result in failure' unless more troops were sent.