BAGRAM AIR BASE, Feb 15: An eight-year-old boy was on Saturday identified by the US military as the first civilian casualty in an offensive in central Afghanistan, which it says has killed several guerillas.

The boy was treated for shrapnel wounds following clashes between US special forces and suspected Taliban fighters in the Lejay area of Baghlan valley, in the north of Helmand province, a US military spokesman said.

Details of the casualty were given as a delegation from the Afghan government headed for Helmand to investigate claims that at least 17 non-combatant deaths had been caused by the offensive, codenamed Eagle Fury.

US spokesman Colonel Roger King said the boy, who was taken for treatment at Kandahar air base, a major coalition centre in southern Afghanistan, while his father was seized for questioning.—AFP