Afghanistan: Nato kills civilians best

U.S.-led coalition airstrikes in southern Afghanistan left at least 30 people, including women and children, killed or wounded, an official said Saturday.

Taliban fighters tried to ambush a joint U.S.-Afghan military convoy in Helmand province's Gereshk district late Friday before fleeing into a nearby village for cover, said Mohammad Hussein, the provincial police chief.

Air strikes targeted the militants in the village of Hyderabad, said Dur Ali Shah, the mayor of Gereshk.

Shah said 30 to 35 people were killed or wounded but he could not provide an exact breakdown. Villagers reported casualty tolls far higher than 30 but those figures were not immediately corroborated by officials. Six houses also were destroyed during the clash, he said.

''Right now we do not know the number of Taliban casualties,'' Shah said. Link

db: Militants fled to a village and coalition forces appear to have, naturally, bombed and strafed it, disregarding the risk to innocent civilians who are regarded as sub-human by racist commanders and politicians.