Ghazni Province, Afghanistan

Tribal elders and residents in central Afghanistan are protesting the deaths of four Afghan civilians they say were killed by foreign forces.

The group carried the victims' bodies to the office of the Ghazni provincial governor Monday.

The protesters say the four were killed overnight in a raid by foreign troops in the Waghaz area of the province.

The governor's spokesman, Ismaeel Jahangir told VOA Afghan service the deaths would be investigated.

The U.S. military says troops killed several militants in an operation in Ghazni. It is unclear whether the operation was the same incident the tribal elders were protesting.

Civilian deaths caused by foreign troops have angered Afghans since U.S.-led forces invaded in 2001 to remove the Taliban government.

Elsewhere in Ghazni Sunday, Afghan officials say Taliban militants killed four policemen in an ambush on a police station in Zenakhan district.

Separately, the Afghan Defense Ministry says NATO and Afghan troops killed 17 militants in the southern province of Helmand Sunday during a joint operation.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.