An air strike by Western forces killed 21 civilians, including women and children, in Afghanistan, a provincial governor said Wednesday, the latest in a string of civilian casualties that has riled Afghans.

The incident, which brings to nearly 90 the number of civilian deaths blamed by Afghan officials on Western troops in the past two weeks, comes as President Hamid Karzai faces rising pressure to halt the bloodshed and find a way to start peace talks with Taliban insurgents.

The air strike on Tuesday night hit houses in a village in the Sangin district of southern Helmand province, where Western forces have been hunting Taliban militants in recent weeks, said Helmand governor Assadullah Wafa.

"Last night, NATO forces carried out an operation in Sangin and as a result of its bombing, 21 civilians, including women and children and men, have been killed," he said.
 
NATO said its security force had not been active in that area on Tuesday but Wafa may have referring to a clash involving US-led coalition troops hunting Taliban near Sangin, in which one coalition soldier was also killed the same day.

A US military spokesman said he had heard reports about civilians killed in this clash but his information was that the only other people killed were militants. Wafa said he had no report of casualties among the Taliban.

Helmand is a Taliban stronghold and the key drug-producing region of Afghanistan, the world's leading source of opium.

While most civilian casualties in Afghanistan in recent years have been linked to the hands of Taliban militants, a rising number of deaths in "friendly fire" from Western troops has added to pressure on the government.

The US commander for eastern Afghanistan, Army Colonel John Nicholson, apologized on Tuesday for the killing of 19 civilians by US troops just over a month ago.

An inquiry is under way into UN and Afghan reports that around 50 civilians were killed in a coalition operation in the west late last month, one of several incidents that has prompted NATO to seek ways to change how it operates to minimize civilian casualties.

(China Daily via agencies May 10, 2007)