Civilians die in US bombing raids

Several civilians have reportedly been killed in US bombing raids on suspected Taliban fugitives in southern Afghanistan.

An Afghan official and a villager said the bombing took place in the rugged mountains of Helmand province.

While the official, Mohammed Wali, gave no death toll, a villager in the area said as many as 30 civilians may have been killed.

Wali said the air and ground assault took place on Monday and yesterday, and that about 50 men suspected of links to the Taliban were arrested.

The US military said Danish F-16s and US bombers had dropped guided bombs on an estimated 25 fighters who had taken up combat positions in the Baghni Baghran area of the province.

It was not clear if this was the same operation referred to by Wali.

Jilani Khan, who runs a money changing business in Baghni Baghran, believed the American forces have been misled into attacking their region on a hunt for fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.

“Americans troops have been provided wrong information that Mullah Omar is leading his forces in the area. There is no truth in this,” he said.

He said US and Afghan troops cordoned off the area and no one is allowed in or out.

Mullah Omar ruled Afghanistan as the head of the radical Taliban militia before it was dismantled by a US-led coalition in December 2001 for harbouring US terror suspect Osama bin Laden.