ISLAMABAD, Nov 6: The Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) news agency said on Tuesday that 633 civilians have been killed and four US planes destroyed in Afghanistan since the start of US air strikes one month ago.

The Taliban militia has said more than 1,500 people have been killed since air raids which started on Oct 7. But the United States has accused the Kabul regime of exaggerating the figures.

The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press, which has strong sources within the Taliban, said on top of the deaths, collated from its own sources, between 800 and 1,000 people had been injured.

The AIP said four US planes had been destroyed in Afghanistan including a spy plane which crashed near Samangan in the north. It gave no other details.

According to the AIP toll, 204 people have been killed in Kandahar, the spiritual headquarters of the defiant Taliban in southern Afghanistan.

This was followed by 163 deaths in Nangarhar province east of the capital Kabul, 92 in Kabul itself, 79 in the northwestern city of Herat and 32 in the northern province of Balkh where the Taliban is fighting off the opposition Northern Alliance.

The other deaths were in the provinces of Parwan (22), Uruzgan (18), Kapisa (9), Kunduz (5), Helmand (5), Paktika (2) and Farah (2).—AFP