61 Afghanis Killed, 57 of them by US Air Strikes

Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

In the past, many of the casualties were Afghani civilians despite claims they were Taliban fighters.

US-led airstrikes killed more than 45 alleged Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the US military said.

More than 7,000 people have been killed during the past 19 months in Afghanistan, the worst violence since the militants’ ouster in 2001.

In separate incidents, an Afghan security guard was killed in a roadside bomb attack in the eastern province of Paktia and a Bangladeshi national was shot dead in the north-eastern province of Badakshan.

Afghan and US-led troops called in close air support after their patrol was attacked by Taliban fighters in a village in the Deh Rawood district of Uruzgan province, the US military said.

(Taliban fighters) "attacked a combined Afghan National Army and coalition patrol with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire,” it said in a statement. “Coalition aircraft destroyed the positively identified (Taliban) positions using precision guided munitions.”

A similar clash on Tuesday in Zabul killed a dozen Taliban, the US military said. The fighting came after a suicide bomber rammed a US security firm convoy in Helmand on Tuesday, killing two local staff and wounding eight other people.

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