U.S.-led coalition aircraft killed about 60 suspected Taliban militants and 16 civilians in an airstrike on a rebel stronghold in southern Afghanistan, an Afghan governor said Monday.

An Afghan wounded man, who got wounded by the Coalition air strike in Panjwai district of Kandahar province, is being carried for treatment at a hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Monday, May 22, 2006. [AP]

U.S.-led coalition spokesman Maj. Scott Lundy confirmed the strike on the village of Azizi in Kandahar province and said about 50 militants were killed. He said the military was investigating whether some civilians had also died.

Kandahar Gov. Asadullah Khalid said 16 civilians were killed and 16 wounded and taken to hospitals in Kandahar city, a former Taliban stronghold.

"These sort of accidents happen during fighting, especially when the Taliban are hiding in homes," he told reporters. "I urge people not to give shelter to the Taliban."