Afghan air raid kills 12 civilians, 20 Taliban

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, June 22 (Reuters) A US-led air strike killed 12 members of an Afghan family and 20 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, the provincial police chief said today.

Hussien Andiwal said the raid took place yesterday night as part of an operation against Taliban fighters by US-led forces and Afghan troops.

A spokesman for the US military said he had no immediate comment on the incident but would check.

Andiwal said the air strike happened in Girishk district of Helmand, a long-time bastion for the Taliban and the leading drug producing province of Afghanistan, the world's major heroin supplier.

''Nine women and three children have been killed in one family in the bombardment,'' he told Reuters.

The incident comes amid rising violence in Afghanistan over the past 17 months, the bloodiest period since the overthrow of the Taliban government in 2001.

More than 230 civilians have been killed this year alone during operations by foreign and Afghan forces, according to an umbrella body for aid groups in Afghanistan.

Civilian deaths are a sensitive issue for President Hamid Karzai's government and the foreign forces hunting the Taliban and their allies.

A series of protests demanding the expulsion of U.S. forces and the resignation of Karzai have been held in recent months over civilian casualties caused by foreign forces.

REUTERS SKB VV1507