At least 40 civilians were killed in an air strike in Afghanistan by foreign forces, witnesses said today.
The Helmand provincial governor said 21 civilians, including women and children, were killed in Tuesday's air strike in Sangin district - a major opium-growing area and the scene of a large anti-Taliban operation by foreign troops.
The US-led coalition said its troops and Afghan soldiers on patrol in the area had come under fire on Tuesday and that there were no reported injuries to any civilians.
The deaths on Tuesday in the southern province of Helmand, if confirmed, would raise the civilian toll at the hands of foreign troops to 110 in the past two weeks.
It estimated 200 Taliban fighters were involved in the clash, in which one coalition soldier died.
The governor said the Taliban hid in civilian homes during the air strike and that they must take responsibility for the deaths.
Civilian deaths are a growing issue for President Hamid Karzai who is also under pressure over the country's slow economic recovery and rampant corruption since the Taliban's overthrow in 2001.