KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - NATO says a joint Afghan-international force killed a Taliban commander and several armed individuals in Kandahar overnight. However, residents say the troops killed eight civilians, including two elderly men.

In a statement Monday, NATO said Coalition and Afghan troops went to a compound outside Kandahar City and came under hostile fire. The Coalition says troops returned fire in self-defense and killed armed men, including Taliban Commander, Shyster Uhstad Khan, who was in a roadside bomb network.

Mohmodullah, a relative of some of the victims, told the Associated Press at the scene that eight civilians were killed when troops searched two homes near Bagh-E-Pul. He challenged officials to prove the victims were militants.
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