Afghans Protest US Civilian Killings

"The people they have killed are not Taliban, they are civilians," one demonstrator told Agence France-Presse (AFP) over the telephone.

"They have killed civilians including children," he said. "We don't want the Americans in our area."

Chants of "Death to America" could be heard in the background.

The protesters stormed a government district headquarters in Shindand, south of Herat city, where Western troops have a large base.

"We have sent some 300 policemen to the area to control the situation," said Herat police chief Mohammad Shafiq Fazli.

"So far we have no reports of any casualties."

The protest comes a day after an angry demonstration in eastern Nangahar province over the killing of civilians by US-led forces and Afghan forces there.

Nangahar police spokesman Abdul Ghafur said the six dead were all civilians, including three women.

The US military said four of those killed were Taliban fighters and a woman and a teenage girl died in crossfire.

Several hundred civilians have died in fighting this year in Taliban attacks and also due to action by foreign forces.

Last month, US Marines killed several civilians when they opened fire in Nangahar after their convoy was hit by a suicide car bomb.

More than 4,000 people -- including 1,000 civilians – died last year in the worst fighting since the Taliban were ousted in 2001.

Fighting is picking up again after the traditional winter lull.

New Onslaught

About 2,000 NATO-led and Afghan troops kicked off a new operation Monday against Taliban fighters in Sangin Valley of the southern province of Helmand.

"It's an operation to clear the Taliban from the lower Sangin Valley," a spokesman for the British deployment to Afghanistan told AFP.

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