More Afghan children killed in US raid

The bodies of six children and two adults have been uncovered from the rubble of a compound flattened in an attack by American forces in Afghanistan, the US military admitted yesterday.

It was the second time in a week that US forces have admitted child deaths in Afghan operations after nine children were killed in a bungled air strike on Saturday.

The latest admission, made by US military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Bryan Hilferty, refers to an incident that happened last Friday after an air and ground attack on a compound used by a rebel commander to store munitions near Gardez in Paktia province.

"After we went in there, we discovered the next day, when we were trying to clear it, the bodies of two adults and six children under a collapsed wall," he said.

"We don't know what caused the wall to collapse, because although we fired on the compound, there were secondary and tertiary explosions."

The United Nations and the government expressed renewed concern that the incidents could prompt a backlash from Afghans.

The news is an embarrassment to the US military, especially coming so soon after the deaths of the children in neighbouring Ghazni province that also failed to kill the militant targeted.

Mr Hilferty told a news conference that Friday's attack was launched by special forces on a compound used by a Mullah Jalani to store hundreds of rockets and mines as well as artillery rounds."We were conducting a night assault on the compound," he said. "We observed a heavy machinegun firing from a compound that we had no indication there were non-combatants in. We fired on the compound from the air and the machinegun stopped."

Mr Hilferty described Jalani as an "opportunistic terrorist" with ties to guerillas of the former Taliban regime, al Qaeda and renegade warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. He said Jalani was not found, but nine suspected militants were detained.

The spokesman said US rules of engagement were stringent, shown by the fact they had not fired on 10 people seen leaving the compound, because they could not be identified as combatants.

But Foreign Ministry spokesman Omar Samad said the deaths showed the need to reassess how such missions were carried out.

"The first news this week was bad enough, the second is obviously tragic," he said. "It shows the need for better coordination and that we need to look at our intelligence-gathering process," he said.

UN spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva expressed "regret and concern" and called for investigation results to be made public.

"In addition to contributing to a sense of fear and insecurity these kinds of incidents make it easier for those who wish to spoil the peace process to rally support," he said.

On Monday, Hilferty admitted the military was concerned Saturday's attack could alienate Afghans in the troubled south.

In both incidents, the military did not reveal the children's deaths until it was asked specific questions by journalists.

It has been criticised in the past for failing to reveal civilian deaths promptly, most notably in July last year when a helicopter gunship fired on a wedding party in Uruzgan province.

The government said 48 people were killed and 117 hurt. The US military eventually said 34 died and 50 were wounded - most women and children - but said the aircraft came under fire.

Last month, six civilians died in an air strike in Paktika province and nearly three weeks before eight family members died in another strike in Nuristan, officials and witnesses said.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon defended US military attempts to kill insurgent leaders in Afghanistan and Iraq.