Afghan civilians killed in U.S.-led operation

(Adds governor's account of toll, byline, blast in Kabul prison)

By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL, June 11 (Reuters) - U.S.-led forces killed four Afghan civilians, including two women and a boy, in an operation against Taliban insurgents in southeastern Paktika province, the U.S. military said in a statement on Wednesday.

Paktika's governor Akram Khpelwak told Reuters that eight civilians -- five of them women and three children -- were killed in the operation, which was backed by air strikes.

He put militants deaths at more than two dozen, but people contacted by phone who said they were residents said the civilian toll was far higher.

The operation, in which several militants were killed, was aimed at two insurgent leaders, the U.S. military said in its statement, without identifying the pair.

"The operation also resulted in four civilian deaths and one civilian injury," it said, adding the fatalities included two women and a boy. The soldiers detained 12 insurgents in the operation, it said.

The Taliban, who lead the insurgency against the government and foreign troops under the command of NATO as well as the U.S. military, could not be reached immediately for comment.

Civilian casualties are a highly sensitive issue for the government and foreign troops based in the country since U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban in 2001.

Analysts say civilian casualties can strengthen support for the Taliban in the countryside and feed resentment of Western-backed President Hamid Karzai and foreign forces in general.

More than 520 civilians were killed during operations by foreign troops against the Taliban last year alone, according to aid groups and some Afghan officials.

A U.N. Human Rights rapporteur last month said some 200 civilians have been killed by foreign and Afghan forces since the start of 2008.

Karzai has repeatedly called on foreign forces to do everything they can to avoid killing civilians.

The Taliban-led insurgents have also caused a number of civilian deaths, especially as they increasingly resort to suicide bombings and roadside bombs.

The Taliban have vowed to step up their war to expel foreign troops and violence has escalated in the past two years, the bloodiest period since the Taliban's removal from power.

Separately on Wednesday, a gas cylinder blast in Pul-i-Charkhi prison, home to hundreds of Taliban and other prisoners in Kabul, killed a U.S. soldier, his translator and two gas distributors, the defence ministry said.

(Reporting by Sayed Salahuddin; Editing by David Fox)