US-led air raid kills 7 children

Kabul: At least seven children were killed in a US-led coalition air strike on a religious school in Afghanistan, the coalition said yesterday amid rising anger over civilian deaths from foreign military operations.

A US military spokesman said some children who survived Sunday's raid recounted how insurgents had forced pupils to stay inside the madrassa.

"We had surveillance on the compound all day and saw no indications there were children inside the building," said Army Major Chris Belcher, a coalition spokesman, in a statement.

Human shields

In Washington, White House spokesman Tony Snow said: "Obviously, any time innocents are killed it is something that is a tragedy and certainly we grieve for those who are lost. We also understand that... the Taliban and other terrorists try to transform innocents into human shields."

The air strike occurred the same day that a suspected suicide bomber killed more than 20 people in an attack on a police bus in the heart of Kabul.

That attack indicated "the terrorists are certainly willing to go in and take innocent human lives", Snow said. "It means that the terrorists are still active and we have to continue to fight them on all fronts."

Other violent incidents made Sunday one of the bloodiest days since the Taliban's ouster in 2001. US-led and Afghan forces killed several dozen insurgents in a "prolonged battle" in Helmand, the US military said. The troops were attacked by an unknown number of guerrillas, prompting a request for air support.

The air strike on the madrassa occurred in the southeastern province of Paktika near the Pakistan border. "Witness statements taken early this morning clearly put the blame on the suspected terrorists, saying that if the children attempted to go outside they were beaten and pushed away from the door," the coalition said.