Afghans say civilians killed in US force bombing

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, July 11 (Reuters) Afghan villagers said today civilians were killed and wounded when aircraft from a US-led force bombed Taliban insurgents this week.

The US military said yesterday US and Afghan government forces attacked an insurgent stronghold in the southern province of Uruzgan early that day, killing more than 40 militants after coalition forces came under fire from the insurgents.

It said there were no reports of civilian casualties.

But villagers from Uruzgan said many people were killed and wounded in the attacks on the villages of Dehjoaz, Joarshah and Kaker.

Haji Nida Mohammad, 45, said three members of his family were killed and two wounded.

Speaking in a hospital in the southern town of Kandahar where he had brought his wounded relatives, Mohammad said people were powerless to stop the Taliban entering their villages.

''When coalition forces and the government cannot stop the Taliban, how can we stop them entering our village?'' he asked.

Dozens of villagers had been killed and wounded, he said.

A doctor at the Kandahar hospital said three wounded women had been brought in. A government health official in Uruzgan said 13 children wounded in the attack had been taken to hospital there.

Small groups of Taliban have infiltrated across large parts the south and east and unleashed the most intense wave of bombings, ambushes and raids since their ouster in 2001.

US-led and Afghan government troops have mounted big offensives in response.

But nearly five years after the Taliban were forced from power, resentment of foreign forces is growing and reports of civilian casualties anger many Afghans.

At least 17 civilians were killed in attacks on Taliban in a village in neighbouring Kandahar province in May.

The US coalition force says it makes every effort to avoid civilian casualties but its troops must be able to defend themselves when attacked from villages. It urges villagers not to let Taliban occupy their homes.

One of the wounded women in the Kandahar hospital, a 35-year-old with a broken hand and burns to her face, said at least two of her children had been killed.

''Taliban entered the village and the bombing started. Lots of innocent people were killed and wounded and our villages were completely destroyed,'' said the woman, who declined to give her name.

''I had three children. One died in my arms, another died in the yard and one is missing,'' she said.

Asked abut Taliban casualties she said: ''Several of them were martyred but thank God, lots of them fled alive.'' The doctor did not let reporters talk to the other two wounded women because of their condition.

A member of parliament from Uruzgan, Abdul Kaliq, said the US-led coalition force had to investigate the report of civilian casualties.

REUTERS PKS BD1447