Two children were martyred in an international air attack, but NATO said the targets were ‘insurgents’

Two children were martyred in an international air attack near where nine others died in another recent strike, an Afghan official said Tuesday, but NATO said the targets were ‘insurgents’.
  
"Last night two children who were irrigating their land were hit by a coalition air strike and both were killed," Abdul Marjan, the district chief of Sawkai in Kunar province, told AFP.
  
A spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed there had been an incident, but said those targeted were suspected insurgents and added that one person had died and another wounded.
"We're also aware of reports of civilian casualties and we're looking into those claims."
  
This severe incident comes after nine young children were killed in a NATO air strike elsewhere in Kunar earlier this month. The commander of the 140,000-strong international occupation force, US General David Petraeus, apologized for the deaths to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who angrily refused it. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates also apologized during a visit to Afghanistan last week.