Militants have attacked an Afghan government delegation visiting the site in one of the two villages in southern Afghanistan where a US soldier is suspected of killing 16 civilians.

The UK is “sticking to its course” in Afghanistan amid warnings British troops could be killed in reprisal attacks for the killing of 16 civilians by a US soldier, Downing Street said.

Moving from house to house, a US Army sergeant opened fire on Afghan villagers as they slept, killing 16 people – mostly women and children – in an attack that reignited fury at the US presence following a wave of deadly protests over Americans burning Korans.

A US soldier walked out of a base in southern Afghanistan before dawn and shot dead 16 Afghan civilians, including nine children and three women.

A US soldier walked out of a base in southern Afghanistan before dawn today and started shooting Afghan civilians, according to villagers and Afghan and Nato officials.

A US soldier came out of his base in southern Afghanistan today and started shooting Afghan civilians, the provincial governor said.

The Nato mission in Afghanistan said today that its troops and local forces detained two suspected Taliban leaders, as a pair of home-made bombs killed a coalition service member and wounded two civilians.

Nato forces said today that they have detained two insurgent leaders in Afghanistan’s east and south.

A suicide bomber on a bicycle attacked Canadian troops in southern Afghanistan today, an Afghan official said.

A TOP NATO general said yesterday that an offensive aimed at driving Taliban militants from their safe havens in southern Afghanistan has been “successfully completed”, even as suicide bombers struck military convoys, wounding six soldiers.