European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 1, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Pages stars and stripes july 2007 airstrikes said to kill 60 afghan civilians by Noor Khan the associated press Afghanistan coalition airstrikes target ing Taliban militants slammed into civilian Homes in Southern of killing both civilians and afghan and West Ern officials said death toll estimates varied As is the Case with most Battles in Many Remote and dangerous parts of local government officials said up to 60 civilians and 35 insurgents had been nato re fused to disclose its estimate of Ca but one Western military official said privately that around eight civilians had been it was not possible to independently verify the casualty nato said one of its soldiers died in Southern Afghanistan Dur ing an operation against the Tali though it did not say if it was in the same the soldiers nationality was not the coalition acknowledged that some civilians were killed during the fighting in Hel Mand provinces Gershk District late Friday after fighters sought shelter in Village familiar scenario in Afghanistan that has led to the deaths of hundreds of Ordinary afghans this the in its news did not say How Many civilians were the Battle began when Taliban fighters tried to ambush a joint military Convoy late Friday before fleeing into a near by Village for said Moham mad Helmand Provin Cial police airstrikes targeted the Mili Tants in the Village of said Dur Ali the mayor of Shah said late saturday that 50 to 60 civilians and 35 Taliban fighters had been he said the fighters were mostly six houses were destroyed Dur ing the Shah John a spokes Man for natos International Security assistance said the military had no information at this time to corroborate numbers that he said nato would not fire on positions if it knew there were civilians its the enemy fighters who willingly fire when civilians Are standing right next to he the coalition said the airstrikes were in response to a mortar and rocket pro pulled grenade attacks on a joint afghan coalition it appears that Ana afghan National army and coalition forces fired at clearly identified firing said Chris a coalition remains of some people who apparently were civilians were found among insurgent fighters who were killed in firing positions in a Trench he accused militants of hiding among Mohammad a resident of said seven members of his including his brother and five of his Brothers Chil were killed by i brought three of my wounded relatives to Gershk Hospital for he said by Tele the villagers were burying a lot of dead bodies Khan civilians deaths caused by and Natoley troops have infuriated afghans and prompted presi Dent Hamid Karzai to publicly condemn the forces for careless Ness and viewing afghan lives As he has urged restraint and bet Ter coordination of military operations with the while also accusing the Taliban of using civilians As a United nations tally shows that of 673 civilian deaths this 314 were caused by International or afghan Security and 279 by Rahmat Guiyap afghan boys Are seen through a door of a House which was destroyed during a raid in Kho Gyani District of Nang arhar East of Afghanistan on and afghan troops raided three com pounds in Eastern Afghanistan on killing four suspected Mili Tants and detaining 16 while clashes and air strikes in the South left 17 More militants officials deaths Iraq As of at least members of the military had died since the beginning of the Iraq War in March according to an associated press the figure includes seven military at least died As a result of hostile a according to the military the a count is seven higher than the defense departments last updated Friday at 10 the latest deaths reported by the military five soldiers were killed thursday when a Roadside bomb detonated near their patrol in Southern the latest identifications re ported by the military no identifications report Afghanistan and other areas As of at least 342 members of the military had died in Paki Stan and Uzbekistan As a result of the invasion of Afghani Stan in late according to the defense the department last updated its Fig ures june the military reports 221 were killed by hostile outside the afghan the defense department re ports 61 More members of the military died in support of operation enduring two were the result of hostile there were also four Cia officer deaths and one military civilian the latest deaths reported by the military no deaths the latest identifications re ported by the military no identifications report from the associated press comments about iraqis allowed As evidence in rape slaying Case the associated press fort a military judge on Friday said he would allow Evi Dence that one of five soldiers accused in the rape and killing of a 14yearold iraqi girl had previously said he wanted to Hurt witnesses testified to having heard army Jesse of chamber saying he wanted iraqis i dont care if they live or they will either support insurgents or Breed insure i want them Thomas Doss recalled a member of the 101st saying of three detainees their unit had the testimony came at a hearing to hash out details and evidence before spielmans court martial on charges of rape and Mur the court martial will begin july one week later than because of scheduling conflicts for defense said Stephen the military the killings in about 20 Miles South of were among the worst in a series of suspected attacks on civilians and other abuses by military person Nel in investigators said the soldiers killed three in the family before raping the girl and setting fire to her body to destroy Drears