Seven civilians, including six children, have been killed in a Nato air strike in southern Afghanistan, local officials say.
District Governor Niaz Mohammad Sarhadi told the BBC the civilians died late on Wednesday in the Zheray district of Kandahar province.
He said the strike had been launched in a remote area after Taliban insurgents were seen planting roadside bombs.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai strongly condemned the bombing.
The issue of civilian casualties at the hands of Nato forces is highly sensitive in Afghanistan.
A Nato spokesman Isaf, Sgt Christopher DeWitt, confirmed there had been a "firefight" between insurgents and Nato forces in Kandahar province, and that civilians had been killed.
However, he could not confirm whether air support had been called in. An investigation into the incident has been launched.
No Afghan forces were involved in the incident.
Zheray is a volatile district which lies on the strategic highway linking Kandahar in the south-east with Herat in the west.
Afghan and international forces have carried out a number of operations in the district in the last couple of years.
The country saw 1,462 civilian deaths in January to June this year - a 15% increase on the same period last year.
Meanwhile, officials in the western province of Farah say militants killed at least 10 Afghan employees of a private security company on Thursday.
A spokesman for the provincial governor told the BBC the convoy of vehicles was attacked in Bakwah district.
Many of the vehicles, thought to be carrying supplies for Nato forces, were set on fire.
Well done Nato - you are yet again killing innocent civilians!!
BBC News - Afghan children in Kandahar 'killed by Nato'
District Governor Niaz Mohammad Sarhadi told the BBC the civilians died late on Wednesday in the Zheray district of Kandahar province.
He said the strike had been launched in a remote area after Taliban insurgents were seen planting roadside bombs.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai strongly condemned the bombing.
The issue of civilian casualties at the hands of Nato forces is highly sensitive in Afghanistan.
A Nato spokesman Isaf, Sgt Christopher DeWitt, confirmed there had been a "firefight" between insurgents and Nato forces in Kandahar province, and that civilians had been killed.
However, he could not confirm whether air support had been called in. An investigation into the incident has been launched.
No Afghan forces were involved in the incident.
Zheray is a volatile district which lies on the strategic highway linking Kandahar in the south-east with Herat in the west.
Afghan and international forces have carried out a number of operations in the district in the last couple of years.
The country saw 1,462 civilian deaths in January to June this year - a 15% increase on the same period last year.
Meanwhile, officials in the western province of Farah say militants killed at least 10 Afghan employees of a private security company on Thursday.
A spokesman for the provincial governor told the BBC the convoy of vehicles was attacked in Bakwah district.
Many of the vehicles, thought to be carrying supplies for Nato forces, were set on fire.
Well done Nato - you are yet again killing innocent civilians!!
BBC News - Afghan children in Kandahar 'killed by Nato'
