(Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan) -- Afghan protesters yelling slogans denouncing the U.S. marched in the streets of Lashkar Gah today carrying bodies of eleven people they claim were killed in a NATO airstrike.

The attack occurred Wednesday in the southern Helmand province, an area that has seen recent heavy fighting.

A province spokesman said the attack killed eight Taliban fighters, while one protester said he had lost four of his nephews during the bombing.

In the past civilian deaths have posed an enormous problem for U.S. and NATO troops, leading to anger and distrust from some Afghans.

Limits on air strikes have been issued by General Stanley McChrystal to reduce the number of civilian causalities.

According to the United Nations, about 15-hundred civilians were killed in the first seven months of this year, with the Taliban killing at least two-thirds of them.

　

(Copyright 2009 by VERTEXNews/Newsroom Solutions)