More than 30 civilians were killed and dozens wounded today in an air strike by foreign forces fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, a regional official said.
"It happened in the early morning," provincial official Mohammed Daoud said. "Between 30-37 civilians have been killed and tens (dozens) of others have been injured."
A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) for Afghanistan confirmed the incident, but said he had heard reports that only "a small number" of civilians were involved.
US Air Force Major John Thomas said that after a long skirmish and under constant fire from the Taliban, ISAF troops called for close air support during an operation in Helmand, where the Taliban has been resurgent this year.
"All enemy positions were destroyed, but after friendly forces surveyed the area, there were reports of some possible civilian deaths," he said.
"The remains of some people who appeared to be civilians were found among enemy fighters in a trenchline," he added.
The rising toll the conflict is taking on Afghan civilians is a sore point for Western-backed President Hamid Karzai, who is also grappling to stamp out corruption and boost the economy.
Nearly 300 civilians have been killed in operations led by foreign forces this year alone, according to government officials, residents and aid groups. Scores more have been killed by Taliban suicide and roadside bomb attacks.
Afghanistan is going through its bloodiest period since the Taliban's fall and this year is regarded as a crunch time for all sides involved in the conflict.