Provincial Afghan authorities said today at least 17 civilians had been killed in bombing raids by US-led forces aimed at rooting out remnants of the Taliban.
Mr Haji Mohammad Wali, spokesman for the government of Helmand province, told Reuters an official of its Baghran district had reported the civilian deaths there after relatives came to the district headquarters.
According to the reports, there were 17 deaths, mostly of women and children, since coalition operations began on Sunday, he said. Another senior official of the province said there could have been as many as 20 more wounded.
US military spokesman Colonel Roger King said he had no information about civilian deaths in coalition operations this week near the village of Lejay in the Baghran valley.
He told reporters B-52 and B-1 bombers had pounded a mountain ridge in Baghran yesterday after ground forces spotted about 25 armed Taliban suspects taking up offensive positions.
Speaking at Bagram Air Base Colonel King said 12 suspects were captured, but Mr Wali said he had reports that 30 people had been detained.
King said US ground forces called in air support over a period of eight hours after spotting men armed with AK-47s and rocket grenades moving along the ridgeline.
Wali said the report of the deaths had been passed on to the Kabul government. He said he had no information on casualties from fresh bombing in the area on last night.
About 13,000 US-led foreign troops are in Afghanistan hunting remnants of the Taliban regime and the al Qaeda network blamed for the September 11th, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Last year, the Afghan government said 48 people were killed and 117 wounded in Uruzgan province when a US AC-130 gunship attacked a wedding party in July. The US military gave a toll of 34 dead and 50 wounded - mostly women and children - but said the aircraft had come under hostile ground fire.