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| Probe finds 62 Taliban, 45 civilians killed in Afghanistan | | |
KANDAHAR, JUL 1
An investigation into US-led airstrikes that slammed into Afghan homes where Taliban fighters sought shelter found that 62 insurgents and 45 civilians were killed, two Afghan officials said today.
An investigating team was sent to Helmand province's Gereshk district, where fighting took place between insurgents and Western forces late Friday, said Dur Ali Shah, the mayor of Gereshk, and Mohammad Hussein Andewal, the provincial police chief.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force has acknowledged some civilians were killed in the southern battle but has said the death toll was nowhere near as high as Afghan officials have claimed.
Because of the battle site's remote location, it was impossible to independently verify the casualty claims. Afghan officials said fighter jets and ground forces were still patrolling the region and that the fighting continued yesterday.
A suicide attacker on foot blew himself up near a convoy of British forces in Gereshk district today, wounding several Afghans, an Associated Press reporter at the scene said.
The battle on Friday began when Taliban fighters tried to ambush a joint US-Afghan military convoy, then fled to Hyderabad village for cover, said Helmand provincial Police Chief Mohammad Hussein. Airstrikes then targeted the militants in the village.
Shah said yesterday that 50 to 60 civilians and 35 Taliban fighters had been killed but changed his casualty figures Sunday, citing the investigation.
Maj John Thomas, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, said the military had no information "to corroborate numbers that large".
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