KABUL (BBC) -- NATO is considering the use of smaller bombs in Afghanistan to try to curb the rising number of civilians killed during operations against the Taleban.

Commanders have also ordered troops to hold off attacking militants in some situations where civilians are at risk.
Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer acknowledged civilian casualties had hurt the alliance politically, in an interview with the Financial Times.
Aid agencies say Western forces have killed 230 civilians so far this year.
Between 700 and 1,000 civilians were killed by both sides during 2006, according to the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR).
----------------------------- Casualties 'inevitable'
In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr. de Hoop Scheffer said NATO commanders were ""working with weapon loads on aircraft to reduce collateral damage"".
However, he insisted it was impossible to eliminate non-combatant deaths entirely.
If we cannot neutralize our enemy today without harming civilians, our enemy will give us the opportunity tomorrow
Mr. de Hoop Scheffer said Gen Dan McNeill, the commander of the NATO force in Afghanistan, Isaf, had also instructed troops to delay attacks on Taleban fighters if civilians are at risk.
""We realize that, if we cannot neutralize our enemy today without harming civilians, our enemy will give us the opportunity tomorrow,"" he added,
""If that means going after a Taleban not on Wednesday but on Thursday, we will get him then.""
Mr. de Hoop Scheffer's comments come a week after Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said civilian casualties were ""not acceptable on a moral level"" and ""disastrous on a political level"".
Afghanistan's President, Hamid Karzai, also recently warned Western troops against treating Afghan lives cheaply.