The number of Afghan civilians killed in insurgent attacks and air strikes by NATO and U.S. forces has risen 40 per cent in the past year, the United Nations said Tuesday.

Taliban insurgents are also increasingly targetting Afghan police officers, with 720 of them killed in the past six months, according to the Afghan Interior Ministry.

Figures released by the UN human rights office in Kabul show that the Taliban and other rebels were responsible for 800 civilian killings, or 55 percent of the total, almost double the 462 deaths for which they were held responsible in the corresponding January-to-August period in 2007. Of those, 142 were executed by the Taliban.

Among the 577 civilians killed by U.S.-led Western forces or the Afghan National Army, more than two-thirds were killed by air strikes, the UN report said. In the same period last year, pro-government forces were responsible for 477 civilian deaths.

Another 68 deaths, mostly from cross-fire, couldn't be pinned on either side.

Some 330 civilians died in August alone, including about 92 killed in a U.S.-led raid on the village of Azizabad in western Afghanistan, the UN said. The Afghan government and UN have blamed the U.S. for killing scores of civilians in that operation, an allegation that Washington disputes.

Taliban targetting ordinary Afghans: UN

"This is the highest number of civilian deaths to occur in a single month since the end of major hostilities and the ousting of the Taliban regime at the end of 2001," UN human rights commisioner Navi Pallay said in a statement.

"There is substantial evidence indicating that the Taliban are carrying out a systematic campaign of intimidation and violence aimed at Afghan civilians they believe to be supportive of the government, the international community and military forces," Pillay said.

President Hamid Karzai for years has pleaded with U.S. and NATO forces to reduce the number of civilians killed in their operations. After the bombing in Azizabad, the government announced that it would review its "status of force" agreement with the U.S. and NATO and review whether to demand an end to air strikes and operations in Afghan villages.

More than 4,200 people — the majority militants — have died in insurgency-related violence this year, according to an Associated Press tally of figures from Afghan and Western officials.

Police deaths soar

Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry announced Tueday that insurgents have killed 720 police in the last six months, compared with about 925 police deaths in all of 2007.

Afghanistan's 82,000 police have less training and less firepower than the Afghan army, making them a favourite target for militants. The police also travel in small groups through some of Afghanistan's most dangerous territory.

Training the Afghan police is a key part of Canada’s mission in the country, with Canadian soldiers and domestic police officers leading the process.

With files from the Associated Press