NATO strike kills 20 civilians in Helmand

At least 20 civilians have been killed during an operation by US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan’s southern province of Helmand, officials and residents say.

An errant rocket strike on Monday hit a crowd of Afghan civilians in the last Taliban stronghold in Helmand province, killing at least 20 people, the Afghan Islamic Press reported.
The deaths came a week after at least 18 people were killed during a NATO airstrike on a residence in the Kajaki district of Helmand province.
The rise in civilian casualties in NATO attacks has strained relations between President Hamid Karzai and his Western allies, who are under increasing pressure at home over the unpopular war.
The number of civilians killed in clashes between Taliban militants and Afghan and US-led foreign troops during the first half of 2010 saw an “unprecedented” increase of 31 percent compared with the figure for the first six months of 2009, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
Civilian fatalities in the first six months of the year stood at 3,268.

Source: Press TV