A NATO air raid killed at least 10 Afghan civilians, mostly women and children, in a remote region in the east of the country.

A NATO air raid killed at least 10 Afghan civilians, mostly women and children, in a remote region in the east of the country.

"Five children, four women and a man were killed in the raid," Kunar provincial governor, Sayed Fazulullah Wahidi, told AFP, adding that four other children were wounded in the raid.
A spokesman for NATO forces said they were investigating the incident.

District governor Abdul Zahir claimed that three including Al-Qaeda-linked militant leader called Shahpoor, were also killed in the raid.

The air raid was in support of a ground operation by US-led coalition and Afghan forces in a Taliban-controlled valley in the insurgency-plagued region, Zahir added.
"The civilians were killed in the air raid," he said.

Civilian casualties caused by NATO forces are a highly sensitive issue in Afghanistan and are regularly condemned by President Hamid Karzai.