Nato air-strikes killed 12 civilian road workers in eastern Afghanistan in an incident bound to fuel Afghan resentment against the presence of international forces.
Nato has tightened procedures for launching air-strikes after Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned of rising anger over mounting civilian casualties, but military commanders say some civilian deaths are almost inevitable in any conflict.
Afghans load a casket of a victim of an air strike into an ambulance in the eastern city of Jalalabad today
Foreign forces have a limited time to weaken Taliban rebels and allow development to undercut the insurgency before Afghans turn against the international presence and Western public opinion demands troops be brought home, security analysts say.
"So far we know that 12 people have been killed by US bombardment," Tameem Nooristani, governor of the eastern province of Nooristan, said. "They were only poor and innocent road construction workers."
US troops had been tipped off that a feared local Taliban commander was in the area, he said, but hit the wrong target.
The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said air-strikes had been launched against entrenched Taliban positions in the area yesterday and an investigation was underway to determine of civilians had been killed.