5 August 2011 - 19:30

At least four protesters have been killed by police gunfire during an anti-US demonstration in Afghanistan's southern Zabul province.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - At least four protesters have been killed by police gunfire during an anti-US demonstration in Afghanistan's southern Zabul province.

The provincial police Chief Mohammad Nabi Elhaam said people took to the streets protesting the killings of three Afghan civilians by the US-led NATO forces in the Qalad district of Zabul.

Reports say one policeman is among the dead.

Afghans have long complained about NATO house raids and air strikes.

The UN has said in a report that the number of Afghan civilians killed during the first six months of 2011 rose by 15 percent compared with a year earlier.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed in US-led airstrikes and ground operations in various parts of Afghanistan over the past few months.

Civilian casualties by US-led foreign forces have also been a major source of friction between Kabul and Washington.

President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly condemned the strikes and called on US-led foreign forces to stop killing civilians.

/129