Airstrike kills construction worker, wounds 18 others near Afghan capital

KABUL, May 23 -- An airstrike of international troops on Friday

night killed a road construction worker and wounded 18 others in Afghanistan's

Wardak province, some 70 km west of the capital Kabul, an official said on

Saturday.

"The war plane of international troops attacked a garden near a road

construction company in Chak district, killing one and injuring 18 other

workers," Hajji Hazrat Janan, head of the provincial council, told Xinhua.

He also said five of the wounded were in critical condition and had been

transferred to a hospital in Kabul. The others were still receiving treatment in

local hospital.

Janan said seven vehicles belonging to the local firm were also damaged in

the incident.

Continuous civilian causalities caused by airstrikes prompted the Afghan

president Hamid Karzai to criticize the U.S.-led Coalition Forces in Afghanistan

as military commanders of international troops here have promised to avoid

harming non-combatants.