KABUL, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai has condemned a U.S-led coalition air strike that the government says killed 76 civilians, most of them women and children. Civilian deaths in military operations are an emotive issue for Afghans, many of whom feel international forces take too little care when launching air strikes, undermining support for the presence of foreign troops. The U.S. military says only armed Taliban militants were killed in Friday's attack. Nearly 700 civilians were killed in the first six months of this year, 255 of them by Afghan government and international troops, the rest by Taliban militants. "Afghan President Hamid Karzai strongly condemns the uncoordinated air strike by coalition forces in Shindand district of Herat province which resulted in the death of at least 70 people including women and children," the president's office said in a statement. The U.S. military said it carried out an air strike in the district targeting a known Taliban commander in the early hours of Friday after Afghan and coalition forces came under attack from insurgents. Thirty militants, including a Taliban commander were killed in the strike and only two civilians had been wounded, the U.S. military said. The Interior Ministry said coalition forces bombarded the Azizabad area of Shindand district on Friday afternoon, killing 76 civilians, including nineteen women, seven men and the rest children under the age of 15. The U.S. military said it was aware of allegations of civilian casualties but said those killed were militants. "Our reports from our own forces on the ground are only, so far, that those killed in the strikes were 30 and they were all militants," said a U.S. military spokesman. "All allegations of civilian casualties are taken very seriously. Coalition forces make every effort to prevent the injury or loss of innocent lives," the U.S. military said in a statement. "An investigation has been directed," it said. (Writing by Jonathon Burch; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Elderly women wait street side for food rations outside a government office in Gori on August 22, 2008. An August 8 air strike by Russia left many in the city displaced ...
