
Nato expresses "regret" over civilian deaths in airstrike - claim initially rejected by US coalition.on 16/09/2012 Nato officials have expressed their regret after civilians were killed in an airstrike in Afghanistan which was targeting known insurgents. However, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) - as the coalition is known - later acknowledged that civilians had been killed and expressed its regret over the airstrike. It insisted known insurgents had been the target. Villagers drove the bodies to the Laghman provincial capital, claiming they were killed by Nato aircraft while they were out gathering firewood before dawn. 4 bodies, covered in blankets, were seen by an Associated Press journalist at the governor's office in the provincial capital, Mehterlam. Nato forces said that the strike killed a large number of insurgents - as many as 45 - but may have also killed civilians. There may have been 8 Afghan civilians killed in the strike, said Captain Dan Einert, a spokesman for international forces in Afghanistan. He said they were still investigating the report. said Jamie Graybeal, another spokesman for the international military in Afghanistan.
Afghan president Hamid Karzai "strongly condemns the airstrike by Nato forces which resulted in the deaths of eight women," a statement from his office said. It said the Afghan government was also investigating.
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