. Details of the casualty were given as a delegation from the Afghan government headed for Helmand to investigate claims that at least 17 non-combatant deaths had been caused by the offensive, code-named Eagle Fury.

US spokesman Colonel Roger King said the boy, who was Friday taken for treatment at Kandahar air base, a major coalition centre in southern Afghanistan, while his father was seized for questioning.

"The boy's father brought him in for treatment by the Special Forces medics. During treatment the child related that he had been with his father and other armed men on a ridge above Lejay, firing at US forces.

"He said his father hid his rifle before bringing him to the medics." King told reporters at Bagram air base north of Kabul, the command centre of US-led military activities in Afghanistan.

He said the boy was in a stable condition, while his father, believed to be linked to the former hardline Taliban regime, was under the control of US Special Forces.

"The incident is the only confirmed non-combatant casualty of operation Eagle Fury. Coalition forces never intentionally target non-combatants."

A spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai said a delegation including Helmand deputy governor Haji Pir Mohammad had left the provincial capital Lashkargah to investigate the disputed civilian casualty claims.

Fazel Akbar said a second delegation from Helmand had also arrived in Kabul to discuss Eagle Fury, in which US and Danish warplanes pounded cave hideouts in the area with 500 and 2,000 pound bombs.

He said Karzai had told the delegation that he had held talks with coalition representatives and urged them to discontinue the raids, many which took place during the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival.

Meanwhile, King said there had been no clashes or bombing in the area for at least 18-hours, adding that US Special Forces had only been present in Bahglan at the invitation of Helmand authorities.

He said the six day offensive, sparked by an ambush Monday in the valley, had claimed casualties among an opposing force numbering above 30, but would not reveal exact figures. So far 15 men have been detained.

He said he was aware that the government was sending a delegation, but the coalition had not been consulted.

"It is an indication that the Afghan government takes the allegations of civilian casualties seriously enough to check it out," he said.

Afghan authorities say up to 48 people were killed when a US bombing raid on June 30 in central Uruzgan province mistakenly targeted a wedding party. Washington puts the toll from the incident much lower.

The latest fighting in Helmand comes only days after the conclusion of an offensive near the southern border town of Spin Boldak which the US says left 18 anti-government fighters dead.

It said the assault on a cave network in Adi Ghar mountain was the largest confrontation involving US troops in Afghanistan since last March.

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The Civilian/Innocent Victims of U.S. Bombing in Afghanistan
by Peaceful Tomorrows and Global Exchange
Following a Global Exchange delegation of Peaceful Tomorrows members to Afghanistan in January 2002, the groups initiated a survey of victims of US military action in Afghanistan. This report documents the survey results and reveals the faces and stories of some of these largely unacknowledged Afghan victims. In disclosing the human costs of the conflict, the report is intended to generate support for programs to aid those people who were harmed by the U.S. military campaign
 http://www.peacefultomorrows.org/afghanvictimsfund/apogreport.pdf