BRUSSELS, May 27 (Xinhuanet) -- The European Commission accused Thursday the US-led coalition troops in Afghanistan of endangering the lives of aid workers.

    "We would have liked to do more but the security situation in the country clearly remains an important constraint," said European Commission spokesman Jean-Charles Ellermann-Kingombe when announcing the donation of 42.56 million US dollars in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan.

    He said that elements in coalition forces, through their behavior, contribute to a situation where the distinction between humanitarian and military personnel is becoming blurred.

    "This undermines the perception of the humanitarian aid workers being impartial, being neutral, and makes it difficult to carry out what they are meant to do -- that is bringing vital humanitarian aid to those in need," Ellermann-Kingombe said.

    The coalition's 20,000 troops, who are overwhelmingly American, are deployed mostly in the troubled southeast of Afghanistan in a hunt for Al Qaeda militants and remnants of the Taliban regime.

    The spokesman contrasted their behavior with that of a separate,NATO-led peacekeeping force that is largely confined to the Afghan capital Kabul.

    Members of the 6,500-strong International Security Assistance Force are always clearly identified as military personnel, he said. Enditem