Afghan protests erupt after US jets 'kill 76 civilians'

Hundreds of people demonstrated in the city of Herat in protest.

American officials said they had targeted armed Taliban militants in Friday’s air raid after Afghan and coalition forces came under attack from insurgents.

Furious Afghans demonstrate after Friday's air strike

The US claimed the strike killed 30 militants, including a Taliban commander, and only two civilians had been wounded.

But Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry claimed coalition forces bombarded the Shindand district of Herat, killing 76 civilians, including 19 women and seven men. It said the rest were children under the age of 15.

The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission said that according to initial findings civilians including women and children had been killed in the raid but it could not be verified. Investigations by the Afghan government and the US military have been launched.

A US military spokesman said: ‘Our reports from our own forces on the ground are only, so far, that those killed in the strikes numbered 30 and they were all militants.’

In a statement the US military said: ‘All allegations of civilian casualties are taken very seriously. Coalition forces make every effort to prevent the injury or loss of innocent lives. An investigation has been directed.’

A woman mourns the death of a relative following the airstrike in western Herat province

UN spokesman Aleem Siddique said: ‘It is imperative that we exercise caution before jumping to any conclusions.

‘The issue of civilian casualties is so important that it is vital that we verify the facts of what has actually happened. It is a matter of great concern that we are seeing reports of large numbers of civilian casualties. The first rule of any counter-insurgency operation is to do no harm.’

Hundreds of people demonstrated in Shindand district yesterday, shouting anti-US slogans, after Afghan soldiers arrived in the area to bring aid to the victims’ families.

Witness Shah Nawaz said: ‘People didn’t accept the aid and started throwing stones at the soldiers, saying the Afghan army is our enemy.

‘We don’t want anything from our enemies.’ He claimed Afghan soldiers fired shots into the air and wounded six people after the crowd threw stones.

He added: ‘We will continue our demonstration until the international community listen to us and bring those who carried out yesterday’s attack to justice.’

The demonstrators also shouted anti-US slogans, saying Americans should withdraw from the area.

A police vehicle blazes after being set on fire by protesters

According to the United Nations, nearly 700 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in the first six months of this year, 255 of them by Afghan government and international troops, the rest by Taliban militants.

Meanwhile, Afghan police chief Matiullah Khan said a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan killed ten civilians who were passengers in a small bus when the bomb exploded yesterday in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province.

And another roadside bomb killed three more civilians in the Tani district of Khost province yesterday.

On Friday a battle between Taliban fighters and Afghan police killed 17 militants in Helmand province.

More than 3,500 people - mostly militants - have died in insurgency-related violence this year.