By Reuters
September 01, 2008
KABUL -- U.S.-led coalition and Afghan troops killed more than 220 suspected Taliban militants in an operation in southern Afghanistan last week, the U.S. military said, the biggest recent toll of insurgent deaths.
Several residents told a Reuters reporter by telephone that more than 70 civilians were killed in air strikes by foreign forces in the Sangin district of Helmand Province.
"The operation is mostly wrapped up. The troops killed more than 220 militants," U.S. military spokesman Nathan Perry said.
There was no immediate comment from the U.S. military about the claims of civilian casualties.
There were no military casualties in the fighting in the area between Sangin and Kajaki districts, Perry said.
He said the four-day operation in Helmand was launched after militants attacked a military convoy carrying equipment for a power-supply dam in the Kajaki area.