Afghans check reports of civilian deaths from bombings

KANADHAR, Afghanistan, Aug 3 (Reuters) Afghan authorities were today checking reported heavy civilian casualties after air strikes by Western forces in the southern province of Helmand.

At least 20 wounded civilians were brought to a main hospital in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, Helmand's police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal said.

Residents have told journalists and provincial officials that between 200 to 300 civilians were yesterday killed or wounded in the raids in the remote district of Baghran, which lies to the north of Lashkar Gah.

''I can confirm there were heavy bombardments,'' Andiwal told Reuters by phone from Helmand. ''We have heard of heavy casualties too and have sent a team to investigate this.'' A provincial lawmaker in Kabul, Mohammad Anwar, also received reports of high civilian casualties.

Both NATO and the US-led coalition forces operate in Helmand, a long-time bastion for Taliban guerrillas.

The US military said in a statement yesterday that coalition forces conducted a precision air strike against two ''notorious Taliban commanders'' conducting a leadership meeting in a remote area of the Baghran district yesterday.

The statement said the fate of the pair was unknown.

Residents and an official said the bombings occurred as a huge crowd of people had gathered to watch a public execution by Taliban fighters.

A Taliban spokesman said there was no public execution and those killed were all civilians attending a ceremony at a shrine.

There was no independent verification of the reported accounts from either side.

If confirmed, the deaths would be the highest civilian casualties caused by foreign troops since the overthrow of the Taliban government in 2001.

More than 350 civilians have been killed in operations by foreign forces this year in Afghanistan, according to government officials and aid workers.

Civilian deaths are a sensitive issue for President Hamid Karzai and the foreign forces fighting the Taliban and their allies.

Already facing criticism over perceived lack of development, rampant corruption and crime, growing insecurity and a booming drugs trade, Karzai has warned civilian deaths would have dire consequences for his government and the presence of foreign troops.

Separately, one soldier with the coalition force was killed yesterday when a roadside bomb hit a coalition convoy in the eastern province of Nuristan, a media coordinator for the force said, adding three more soldiers were wounded in the blast.

REUTERS SYU VV1444