US-led forces kill Afghan civilian

KABUL: The US-led alliance says one of its troops in Afghanistan has killed at least one civilian in the troubled east of the war-ravaged country.

NATO said the incident took place in a district in Laghman Province on Sunday and that it is investigating the fatal incident.

"We take allegations of civilian casualties very seriously and we will conduct a thorough investigation of this isolated incident," spokesman Major Patrick Seiber said in a statement.

Afghan president Hamid Karzai has also dispatched a team to investigate the incident.
Two more civilians were killed by the US-led forces in another district of Laghman Province on Saturday.

Civilian deaths by the US-led foreign forces have drawn strong criticism from Afghan officials and people.

On Saturday, hundreds of people in Laghman Province held a rally to protest the killing of 30 civilians in a NATO operation one day earlier.

The protesters argue that Afghan civilians mainly fall victim to the foreign military operations.

The killing comes as the US army has held the first hearing for the 12 soldiers who are on trial for killing civilians for sport in war-torn Afghanistan.

The loss of civilian lives at the hand of foreign forces has led to a dramatic increase of anti-American sentiments in Afghanistan.