ASADABAD, July 4, 2008 (AFP) - US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan said they used air power Friday to destroy two vehicles carrying militants, but a district governor said 22 civilians were killed in the strike.

The coalition said troops called in air support after a base in rugged Nuristan province came under attack, and denied any civilians had been killed.

'The insurgents got into two vehicles. The vehicles were destroyed, which killed the militants, they were the enemies of Afghanistan,' a press officer told AFP. He could not immediately provide further details.

The incident occurred in remote Waygal district, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the border with Pakistan.

But the district governor said those killed were civilians leaving their villages ahead of a military operation against Taliban insurgents.

'As people were leaving and were in their vehicles, they were bombed, which killed 22 civilians and wounded another eight,' Zia-ul-Rehman said.

The internationally supported campaign to fight a bloody Taliban insurgency has seen several incidents in which civilians were killed, as well as claims of civilian casualties that have proven untrue.

The United Nations said last month that nearly 700 Afghan civilians had lost their lives in crossfire between insurgents and foreign troops this year.

The Taliban are trying to reclaim power after being removed from government in late 2001 in a US-led operation launched weeks after the 9/11 attacks blamed on Al-Qaeda, which then had sanctuary in Afghanistan.