http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/5003478.stm

Dozens of people are reported to have been killed after US-led coalition forces launched a raid on a village in southern Afghanistan.

A US military spokesman says they believe up to 50 Taleban have been killed in the attack.

But a BBC correspondent has received reports that 30 civilians were killed in the attack and 50 others injured, including children.

The US-led troops said they had no reports of civilian casualties.

'Homes were bombed'

The attack was launched in Kandahar's Panjwayi district where Taleban clashed with Afghan security forces last week.

Eyewitnesses and local doctors say children were among those injured in the US air strike.

A BBC reporter who visited a local hospital spoke to villagers who had been injured in the attack.

One said Taleban fighters had taken control of his house to launch missile attacks from the roof, and that many of his family members had died in the bombing raid.

"They started to bomb our village at midnight and continued up to this morning," another eyewitness, Attah Mohammad, told AFP.

Another man said Taleban fighters had taken refuge at a local madrassa [Islamic religious school] after the recent fighting.

"Helicopters bombed the madrassa and some of the Taleban ran from there and into people's homes," Haji Ikhlaf told the Associated Press.

"Then those homes were bombed."

US-led forces have sealed off the area and are carrying out an investigation.

The BBC's Alastair Leithead says Panjwayi is a known stronghold of the Taleban and a number of high-ranking Taleban commanders had recently been captured there.

The US-led coalition in Afghanistan said the purpose of the operation was "to detain individuals suspected of terrorist and anti-Afghanistan activities".

"These individuals were active members of the Taleban network and have conducted attacks against coalition and Afghan forces as well as civilians," it said in a statement.

Violence escalates

There has been a dramatic upsurge in fighting in southern Afghanistan over the past week.

Officials estimate up to 200 rebels have been killed in the region since last Wednesday, in some of the fiercest fighting since the fall of the Taleban in late 2001.

On Sunday, a suicide car bomb attack apparently targeting a US military convoy killed three people in Kabul - the driver and two civilians.

Our correspondent said it was the first suicide attack in the capital this year.

What a hell-hole! I think that the lines between civvies and part-time Taliban fighters are very thin and hazy. Kids can place bombs next to the road, women can fire RPG's..... And with every victim more hatred starts and more people are willing to fight the coalition. The sad part is that there are innocent people dying next to all others.

The first casualty of war is innocence... It is an unfortunate axis, Ted!

If your neighbour is making IED's and you don't move house... sorry but you are a dumb donkey.

That's not going to help the coalition's image in Afghanistan. What is the Afghani army doing about all this though, it seems like foreigners are always doing the fighting for them. Their militias just patrol the streets but rarely do i hear about afghan on afghan clashes like in a battle.

*claps hands in joy*

Thank God. Keep up the good work boys!!! Take out them Taliban men!!! It's so annoying lol. It sucks to hear that so many civilians died though RIP

MoRtArSnCaLiBeRs

Leave it to the BBC to post lies. Their bias never ceases to amaze me.

At this time, there are 16 confirmed civilian deaths (not 30 as the BBC lies) and 15 (not 50 as the BBC lied again) civilian injured (yes, that number includes some children). This is the reported number from doctors, PJs and medics that are/were treating the casualties.

If you wish to have a source on this, go to Google News and search "Afghanistan Bombing" most of the papers, despite their bias, are reporting the correct number of civilian casualties.

The Taliban had decided to take up in civilian homes. This isn't anything new for them, and unfortunately, when they do that, we cannot avoid civilian casualties.

What is the Afghani army doing about all this though, it seems like foreigners are always doing the fighting for them. Their militias just patrol the streets but rarely do i hear about afghan on afghan clashes like in a battle.

Just because you do not hear about it, doesn't mean it isn't happening, you only get the news the media deems interesting. Look harder and you will find a few reported accounts. The media isn't interested in what the Afghans are doing, only what US and ISAF are doing.

Scroll down in this article to the chart http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0523/p04s01-wosc.html
It shows that about 75% of the troops in afghanistan are natives. If that's the case then what are the coalition forces role at the moment?

Those dead were Taliban and I am glad they are gone

What a hell-hole! I think that the lines between civvies and part-time Taliban fighters are very thin and hazy. Kids can place bombs next to the road, women can fire RPG's..... And with every victim more hatred starts and more people are willing to fight the coalition. The sad part is that there are innocent people dying next to all others.

Remember Vietnam?

What is the Afghani army doing about all this though, it seems like foreigners are always doing the fighting for them. Their militias just patrol the streets but rarely do i hear about afghan on afghan clashes like in a battle.

Australian SAS do a massive amount of work with the Afghan Army. Yes they are dying for their country.