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Afghanistan raid claims civilian lives

US-led coalition and Afghan troops conducting a nighttime raid killed a Taliban leader yesterday but also two children caught in the crossfire, a US spokesman said.

In the south, Taliban fighters ambushed a police patrol over the weekend, and the subsequent battle left six police and 12 militants dead, said Kandahar provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqib.

During the raid of the home in eastern Paktia Province, suspected militants fired guns and rocket-propelled grenades at the coalition and Afghan troops, forcing the soldiers to return fire. Two children were killed in the exchange, said Major Donald Korpi, a US spokesman.

"When someone shoots at you with an RPG, you're going to return fire," Korpi said. "It's very sad and we hate to see any civilian killed, especially a child ... We had no indication whatsoever there were kids in there."

The midlevel leader killed in the raid was identified as Commander Saleem, whom the US accused of having attacked Afghan and foreign troops. A woman inside Saleem's house was also wounded in the crossfire and evacuated for treatment, the coalition said.

Civilian deaths in Afghanistan has been a recurring theme this year. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly asked international forces to do all they can to avoid such deaths, and US and NATO commanders say they frequently withhold fire if they think their attack will cause civilian casualties, but that they reserve the right to defend themselves.

In Kandahar Province, Taliban fighters ambushed police traveling in between Ghorak and Mawiwand on Saturday, sparking a six-hour battle, Saqib said. About 20 Taliban fighters were wounded in the engagement, he said, and several police are missing.

Saqib said "a large number" of Taliban launched the attack, but he didn't give numbers.

Elsewhere in Kandahar Province, Taliban fighters beheaded two civilians they accused of being spies for the government or NATO, Saqib said.

In the east, insurgents fired mortars at a village in Kunar Province, killing a boy and wounding eight other people, including five NATO soldiers, a NATO statement said yesterday.

The 10-year-old boy died after two mortar rounds hit a village in Nari district on Saturday, the statement said.

The attack also left five alliance soldiers and three Afghan civilians wounded, it said.
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