NATO says Afghan deaths down after policy review

BRUSSELS, June 15 (Reuters) NATO said today a review of its operations in Afghanistan had led to a fall in civilian casualties caused by its troops and blamed Taliban insurgents for using ordinary Afghans as human shields.

NATO defence ministers agreed to ensure every measure was taken by its some 40,000-strong International Security Assistance Force to avoid casualties which the West fears could sap public support for the international presence in Afghanistan.

However they signalled no major change in military strategy, which has made extensive use of air power to get allied troops out of tight spots, and said the main change had been an effort to tighten coordination with other international and Afghan forces.

''Procedures have been changed and improved over the past 12 months ... The statistics show in the past few months a clear decline in civilian casualties caused by ISAF,'' NATO spokesman James Appathurai told a news conference at the NATO meeting in Brussels.

US forces on Tuesday mistakenly killed seven policemen in an air strike in the east of Afghanistan and the International Committee of the Red Cross warned that Western forces must do more to prevent civilian casualties when bombing insurgents.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said on Monday that dozens of recent casualties risked hitting Afghan and European public support for the presence of NATO and U.S. troops at a critical time.

''We strongly condemn the insurgents' practice of deliberately endangering the civilian population, as well as the disregard for human life shown by suicide bombings and the use of improvised explosive devices,'' NATO ministers added in a final statement.

Appathurai said the statistics showing a decline in casualties from ISAF operations were classified.

REUTERS SLD ND1702