US-led troops killed more than four dozen insurgents in a battle in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand without civilian casualties, the US military said today.
But a resident of the area said at least eight civilians died in yesterday's battle in the province's Musa Qala district. The resident said the victims, who belonged to one family, were killed in a US air raid during the battle.
The man also said there were "more civilian fatalities and residents were working to dig out the casualties from under the rubble".
Elsewhere, a German hostage reported to have been killed by the Taliban is still alive along with four Afghans, a Taliban spokesman said today.
He said the Taliban leadership wanted the release of 10 Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government and the withdrawal of German troops from Afghanistan as conditions for the freedom of the hostages
Yesterday a further 14 Taliban were killed in a raid by Afghan police in the southern province of Zabul, the Afghan Interior Ministry said. But the Taliban said it lost only four fighters.
Violence has surged in Afghanistan in the past 18 months, the bloodiest period since US-led troops overthrew the Taliban's government in 2001.