(For more on Afghanistan, click on [ID:nAFPAK])
KABUL, Oct 25 (Reuters) - At least 15 insurgents were killed in a NATO air strike overnight in southern Helmand province, a spokesman for the alliance said on Monday.
U.S. Captain Ryan Donald, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said he had heard allegations of civilian casualties but they had not been backed up by reports to date.
"Current reports show we only killed Taliban. We are aware of allegations of civilian casualties," he said, adding that in addition to the 15 dead, six insurgents were detained.
A spokesman for the provincial governor said initial reports showed up to 25 militants may have died, including two Taliban commanders, and he had not received reports of any civilian deaths.
Foreign forces in Afghanistan have stepped up the use of air strikes in recent months since General David Petraeus took control of U.S. and NATO-led troops in the summer, as they try to go after mid-level insurgent commanders.
Many of those air strikes have also caused civilian casualties and have fuelled tension between President Hamid Karzai and his Western allies, who are under increasing pressure at home over the unpopular war.
Dawood Ahmadi, spokesman for the governor of Helmand, said initial reports from intelligence officials showed up to 25 militants were killed, including two commanders.
"We have had no reports of civilian casualties but we are still investigating," said Ahmadi, adding the raid had taken place in Baghran district, a remote area in the north of the province where there was no government presence.
On Friday, ISAF carried out an air strike in the same district targeting a Taliban leader. That strike "reportedly killed several insurgents", ISAF had said.
Violence in Afghanistan is at its worst since the overthrow of the Taliban in late 2001 with rising casualties on all sides of the conflict.
The total number of foreign troop deaths reached 600 for 2010, with the announcement on Monday of another dead ISAF service member in the east. With more than two months to go, this year is already the bloodiest of the war.
A total of 521 troops died in all of 2009. That figure, however, still lags far behind the casualty rate for ordinary Afghans as civilians get increasingly caught up in the crossfire.
A mid-year report released by the United Nations showed civilian casualties had risen by 31 percent over the first six months of 2010, compared with the same period last year. That figure included 1,271 killed. (Reporting by Patrick Markey and Jonathon Burch, writing by Jonathon Burch) (For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/afghanistanpakistan)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
