HERAT, May 2: Afghan and United Nations investigations found that about 50 civilians, including many women and children, were killed in weekend fighting in Herat, officials said on Wednesday.

The US-led coalition has said 136 Taliban fighters were killed in the clashes, that included bombing raids, with militants on Friday and Sunday.

A UN investigation had so far found that 49 civilians were killed in the fighting in Shindand district, spokesman Adrian Edwards said.

Police found that 51 had died, western Afghanistan spokesman Akramudin Yawar said. “The figures I have so far of the civilians killed in the three-day operation in Shindand is that 51 civilians were killed, including 18 women and a number of children,” he said.

A team appointed by provincial Governor Sayed Hussain Anwari found that 42 civilians had been killed and 55 wounded, said the governor’s spokeswoman Farzana Ahmadi.

The team made up of councillors and other provincial authorities found that 1,600 families had fled the area because of the fighting and 100 houses had been damaged or destroyed, she said.

The interior ministry in Kabul said its team, including two generals, was yet to leave for Shindand.

About 1,000 angry protesters claimed civilians were among the dead in a demonstration on Monday in which government offices in the district were torched.

About 2,000 university students blocked a main highway between Kabul and Pakistan in Nangarhar in protest against the second incident of killing of civilians in the area by coalition troops in less than two months.

The students burned and stamped on US flags and chanted ‘Death to America’. “We demand the Afghan parliament bring the perpetrator of this cruel incident to an Islamic court,” said Gull Agha, one of the protesters.

The protesters called for foreign troops to leave immediately, saying they had failed to bring security to Afghanistan.

A former minister, Hamidullah Tarzai, said the current small protests were not yet a major problem for President Karzai, but they would become more serious if killings continued.

Mr Tarzai said coalition forces had lost the sympathy of the people. “Now that has been eroded and that is not a good sign. That may have future repercussions,” he told Reuters. “If the trend continues and there are further incidents, then I think that is something to worry about.”

Neighbours of the dead in Nangarhar and officials said those killed on Sunday were civilians, including three women.

The US military said a woman and a teenage girl had died after being caught in crossfire while troops killed four Taliban.—AFP/Reuters