US-led coalition troops killed three men, two children and a woman, in a raid in southeastern Afghanistan, provincial officials and village residents said this morning.
They said the victims, from the families of two brothers, were all civilians, but the US military said the two brothers were involved in conducting bombing operations using improvised explosive devices.
The issue of civilian casualties is a sensitive one as it undermines public support for the presence of foreign troops and the pro-Western government of President Hamid Karzai.
Foreign troops raided two adjacent houses belonging to two brothers and killed three men, two children and a woman from the two families, district governor Gul Qasim told Reuters.
The children, both boys no older than 10, had bullet wounds to the head and chest, a Reuters witness said.
A large angry crowd of men gathered as villagers helped the local imam wash the bodies before burial. Women could be heard screaming and wailing from inside the houses.
"I condemn this strongly," Khost province Governor Arsala Jamal told reporters. "Afghan (forces) were not involved. It was a breach of the promise by coalition troops that they would coordinate operations with us. It is a challenge for us and it alienates people."
Troops were searching the compounds for one of the brothers when they came under fire, the US military said.
"Several armed militants, two of whom were barricaded in a building, opened fire on coalition forces after they entered the compound," coalition spokesman Major Chris Belcher said in a statement. "Coalition forces returned fire killing Bismullah, his brother Rahim Jan, as well as several other armed militants."
Troops discovered the bodies of a woman and a child in the buildings after the fighting, the statement said, blaming the militants for putting the woman and child in harm's way.