Woman and children 'killed by US' in Afghanistan

A raid by US forces has killed six civilians in eastern Afghanistan, including two children and a woman, an Afghan official said today.

Khiber Pashtun, a spokesman for the governor of Khost province, said the six died in a raid in the village of Hom, close to the border with Pakistan.

Khadim Khan, a family member, said the six people killed came from two related families.

Three men also were killed in the raid, including one who used to work as a border policeman patrolling the region in between Afghanistan and Pakistan, said Mirza Gul, a villager from Hom in Khost province, where the raid took place.

An official with the US-led coalition said he had no immediate comment but that officials were preparing a statement.

The raid began early this morning and lasted about an hour, said Mr Gul.

Ground troops first arrived with a translator, then more later came by helicopter, said Mr Khan, a family member.

The governor of Khost province, Arsallah Jamal, has previously called on US forces to seek Afghan assistance before launching night-time raids, saying Afghans would be in a position to “reduce mistakes”.

Going back as far as 2002, president Hamid Karzai has publicly and repeatedly accused the US of heavy-handedness in its counterterrorism operations. The US has said over the years that it has modified tactics to cut down on civilian deaths.