KABUL, 1 May 2005 — Three Afghan civilians, including a child and a woman, were killed when American warplanes struck a militant hide-out in southeastern Afghanistan, the US military said yesterday. Four militants were also killed during the attack on Friday in Uruzgan province, which has been plagued in recent weeks by a wave of violent attacks by remnants of the ousted Taleban regime, it said in a statement.

“An airstrike on April 29 against an insurgent camp in Uruzgan province resulted in the deaths of four anti-coalition militants and three civilians,” the statement added. Two other children were wounded in the attack and were evacuated by the US military to nearby Kandahar airfield for treatment.

The deaths occurred less than a week after three civilians were wounded in eastern Nangahar province in a clash between militants and US troops. The US military said despite “careful planning” non-combatant casualties were unpreventable.

US forces have mistakenly killed scores of civilians since their invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001 to topple the Taleban regime for sheltering Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden. Some 18,000 US-led coalition troops are in Afghanistan, hunting Taleban and other Islamic militants and also doing humanitarian work to win the hearts and minds of the local population in southern and eastern Afghanistan.

“This incident is not indicative of coalition efforts; every coalition mission is carefully planned, and all possible efforts are taken to prevent noncombatant injuries and deaths,” the statement said. “In some cases, operations are dramatically altered to prevent any risk to injuring noncombatants,” it added. The statement said the raid was part of a series of attacks over militant hideouts in the region since Thursday.

Earlier in the day, a protest in Afghanistan over a clash between soldiers and police turned violent and one person was killed when police fired to disperse the crowd, witnesses and a hospital official said. The Friday clash between soldiers and police in the western city of Herat and the protest yesterday over it were the latest violent incidents in a part of the country that used to be considered most safe. “We’ve got one man killed and two policemen hurt by stones hurled at them by the protesters,” said Rawoof Niayazi, director of Herat’s hospital.

Up to 400 protesters gathered outside the house of provincial governor Sayed Mohammad Khairkhwa to demand his resignation and denounce the police and soldiers involved in the Friday evening clash. The clash between US-trained soldiers and police broke out after a soldier shot dead a woman he suspected of carrying bombs, an army officer said.

Police arrested the soldier who shot the woman but soldiers seeking their comrade’s release then clashed with police, said army officer Abdul Manan.