25 Afghan Civilians Killed By NATO Bombs

Suspected Taliban militants attacked police posts in southern Afghanistan, sparking clashes and NATO air strikes that left 25 civilians and 20 militants dead Friday.

The militants attacked police and used civilian houses for cover in Gereshk district of Helmand province late Thursday, said Mohammad Hussein Andiwal, provincial police chief.

NATO responded by calling in air strikes, which killed 20 suspected militants, but also 25 civilians, including nine women, three babies and the mullah of a local mosque, he said.

A spokesman for the coalition forces says NATO was targeting an area "where the fire was coming from" and destroyed two compounds, killing the families who lived there. He blames the militant fighters who initiated the battle that began Thursday and lasted into the early hours of Friday.

NATO said the aircraft struck after insurgents attacked troops from its International Security Assistance Force 9 miles northeast of Gereshk town.

"A compound was assessed to have been occupied by up to 30 insurgent fighters, most of whom were killed in the engagement," a NATO statement said.

"We are concerned about reports that some civilians may have lost their lives during this attack," said Lt. Col. Mike Smith, an ISAF spokesman.

NATO said earlier this week it was facing a seasonal surge in militant operations, but dismissed recent suicide and bomb attacks as "militarily insignificant."

A bomb killed 35 people, most of them police trainers, in a bus in the capital, Kabul, on Sunday. In the eastern city of Jalalabad, Nangarhar Gov. Gul Agha Sherzoi said Wednesday that a Pakistani and two Afghans were arrested for allegedly planning suicide attacks against him.

"We find ourselves in the midst of the so-called fighting season, when what we had predicted is taking place: an increase in suicide bombings and more desperate attempts by the enemies of peace and stability to present the illusion that they are stronger than they are," said Lt. Col. Maria Carl, spokeswoman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

Violence has claimed about 2,400 lives, including civilians, militants and troops, so far this year, according to an Associated Press tally of figures from Western military and Afghan officials.

Aid agencies warned Tuesday that goodwill toward foreign forces has faded since the fall of the Taliban five years ago because of air strikes and botched raids by U.S. and NATO troops.

The ACBAR umbrella group of 94 foreign and Afghan aid agencies said foreign forces had killed at least 230 Afghan civilians this year, including 60 women and children.

AP's tally puts the figure through June 17 at 152, while another 169 were killed by insurgents.

It was not clear how the umbrella group — which includes Oxfam, Save the Children and CARE International — arrived at its higher total.