By Nasrat Shoiab, AFP
Bombing by foreign forces killed 20 to 30 Afghan villagers, a governor and witness told AFP Wednesday in the latest claim of heavy civilian casualties in anti-Taliban operations.

The US-led coalition confirmed it had called in "air support" amid intense battles with Taliban fighters in the southern province of Helmand on Tuesday that had killed an unknown number of rebels and a coalition soldier.

But it was not aware that civilians had been killed, spokesman Major Chris Belcher said. "There were enemy casualties in (the) operation last night -- I don't have an exact number," he said.

The coalition is smarting from claims of mounting civilian casualties after nearly 60 other people were said to have been killed in its operations late last month, according to investigations and residents.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai summoned commanders of the coalition and the separate NATO-led force, and other top foreign diplomats, last week to protest.

The bombing began in Helmand province just before midnight Tuesday, a villager named only Noorullah told AFP.

"Around 30 people are dead," he said by telephone. "The number might rise because there are still people under the debris."

He said most of the dead and wounded were women and children. "We took the wounded kids to the foreign forces base to show them who they have bombed."

Helmand province governor Assadullah Wafa said he had sent a team to the area to establish what had happened. "Twenty-one civilians including women and children were killed," he said.

Coalition and Afghan soldiers battled Taliban fighters in Helmand for around 16 hours on Tuesday, the coalition said in a statement.

The troops fought through three separate enemy ambushes while dozens of Taliban fighters from the surrounding area reinforced rebel positions.

"Over 200 Taliban fighters massed on the combined ANA (Afghan National Army) and coalition forces throughout the engagement," it said.

Some of the attackers took shelter in compounds, it added.

"Coalition close air support aircraft destroyed three enemy command and control compounds including an enemy underground tunnel network."

The coalition said its intelligence indicated the involvement of foreign fighters and men from an area of the western province of Herat, where there were similar heavy battles over the weekend of April 27.

UN and Afghan investigations last week found about 50 civilians were killed in the fighting in Herat that involved coalition and Afghan soldiers as well as US Special Forces.

The coalition initially denied there had been civilian casualties, saying 136 Taliban fighters were killed. It said later it was investigating.

Residents in the eastern province of Nangarhar are meanwhile accusing the coalition of killing six civilians late April, including two women.

The incident was not far from an area where US Marines opened fire on civilians in March after a suicide bombing. A US commander said in Washington Tuesday that 19 people were killed and 50 injured in this incident.

The commander, Colonel John Nicholson, told reporters he was "deeply, deeply ashamed and terribly sorry that Americans have killed and wounded innocent Afghan people."

The insurgency being led by the extremist Taliban with the support of its allies, notably the Al-Qaeda network, has steadily picked up pace despite the efforts of about 50,000 foreign soldiers and fledgling Afghan security forces.

More than 1,200 people have been killed in the violence this year, most of them rebels, according to an AFP count based on reports. Roughly 200 civilians have been killed in military action and Taliban attacks.

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