US airstrike kills civilians in northwest Afghanistan

Herat: At least seven civilians were killed by a US-led airstrike in northwestern Afghanistan, officials said on Thursday.

The strike came just one day after President Hamid Karzai stressed that the issue of civilian deaths should be top priority with new US president-elect Barack Obama.

Provincial officials said the airstrike occurred late on Wednesday following an attack by Taliban insurgents on a joint convoy of Afghan and US forces in Ghormach district of Badghis province in the northwest.

District chief Abdullah said seven civilians and 15 insurgents were killed in the raid, but the head of the provincial council Qari Dawlat, quoting villagers, put civllian deaths at around 30.

The US military was not aware of the report and would check the incident, a spokesman said.