5 Afghan civilians killed

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KABUL, Aug 8 (AP): US.-led coalition forces "inadvertently" killed four women and a child during a clash with militants in a central Afghan province, the military said Friday.Meanwhile, a coalition service member died in a roadside blast in the nation's west.

Civilian deaths are a sore point between the Afghan government and foreign troops here. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has pleaded with the U.S. and NATO to avoid killing innocents and undermining already tenuous popular support for his government. Military officials have pointed out that insurgents often hide in civilian-heavy areas.

Several militants also were killed and three detained in the clash Thursday in Ghazni province's Giro district, a coalition statement said.

Coalition forces were aiming for a Taliban militant suspected of aiding foreign insurgents.

As they approached a compound, several armed militants threatened them. The troops used small-arms fire in response, killing the militants as well as four women and child with them, the statement said.

"The coalition regrets the death of these noncombatants," said Lt. Col. Rumi Nielson-Green, a coalition spokeswoman said. "We are planning to conduct a full and thorough investigation." Afghanistan is facing a raging Taliban-led insurgency that is strongest in its south and east. More than 2,900 people have died in insurgency-related violence so far this year, according to an Associated Press tally of figures from Afghan and Western officials.