Anti-Taliban air strikes by US- and Nato-led forces in Afghanistan killed 65 villagers including children, a local official said Saturday, amid growing anger here over civilian deaths.
The toll from Friday's operation in the southern province of Helmand given by a district mayor was the highest since 2001, when US-led forces used heavy bombing in their campaign to drive the extremist Taliban from power.
It was impossible to independently verify the number of civilians killed in Girishk district, as the area is remote and difficult to access, but local residents also claimed that scores had been killed and wounded. Tensions are already high here over the number of ordinary people killed in operations against Taliban insurgents. President Hamid Karzai last week accused foreign soldiers of an "extreme use of force."
"The finding of our investigations about the civilian casualties in Girishk district so far is that 65 civilians including women, children and men have been killed," district mayor Dur Alisha told AFP.
Thirty-five Taliban were also killed, he said. The coalition has acknowledged there were civilian casualties in Friday's strikes, saying some dead bodies were found in trenches with those of slain militants. Nato's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said it was aware there were "probably" some civilian casualties, but suggested the toll might be much lower.
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