Afghan governor says civilians killed in U.S raid

Sunday's raid was aimed at a Taliban meeting in the KhashRud district of Nimroz province on Sunday, provincial governorGhulam Dastagir Azad told reporters.

"The operation was carried out on the basis of a tip off.Twenty-eight Taliban and between six to eight civilians werekilled in it," he said, without giving further details.

The U.S. military confirmed the mission, but said nothingof civilian casualties. It said the operation was aimed atdisrupting militant activities in Nimroz.

The issue of civilian casualties by foreign troops is asensitive one in Afghanistan as it further undermines supportfor the presence of around 71,000 international troops in thecountry.

In the first six months of this year, 698 civilians werekilled, compared to 430 in the same period last year.

In the latest operation, U.S.-led coalition forcesidentified numerous militants armed with AK-47s,rocket-propelled grenades and hand grenades, the U.S. militarysaid in a statement.

"Multiple militant groups engaged the force in a compoundand in nearby areas. Coalition forces then killed them usingsmall-arms fire. Two additional groups of armed militantsmanoeuvred against the force and were killed by air strikes,"it said.

A Taliban spokesman said no member of the group was killedand the casualties were civilians participating in a "party".

Afghanistan has faced an upsurge of violence since 2006 andsome Western politicians have warned it may slide back intoanarchy.

According to Afghan and U.N. officials more than 13,000people have been killed since 2006 when the Taliban regroupedto overthrow the Afghan government and drive out foreigntroops.

(Reporting by Mirwais Afghan; Writing by Sayed Salahuddin;Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)