Twelve civilians were killed by two rockets fired by NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, where thousands of Afghan and coalition forces have conducted a major anti Taliban operation, officials said Sunday, dpa reported.
"Two rockets from a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System launched at insurgents firing upon Afghan and ISAF forces impacted approximately 300 meters off their intended target, killing 12 civilians in Nad Ali district, Helmand province today," the NATO military said in a statement.
US General Stanley McChrystal, commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), "conveyed his apologies to President Hamid Karzai for this unfortunate incident," it said.
Earlier, the Afghan presidential palace said that a house was hit in Marjah district and "as a result ten members of the family were martyred and several others were wounded."
It was not clear if the both the presidential palace and NATO were talking about the same incident.
President Hamid Karzai instructed the relevant authorities in the province to launch an investigation, the presidential statement said.
A total of 15,000 Afghan, US and British forces launched the most ambitious offensive yet in Helmand's Marjah and Nad Ali districts on Saturday. Two NATO soldiers and 27 insurgents have been killed since the operation began on Saturday morning.
The operation is the largest since the ouster of Taliban regime by a US-led invasion in late 2001.
As the operation was getting underway, Karzai had called on Afghan and NATO troops on Saturday "to exercise absolute caution to avoid harming civilians."
The problem of civilian deaths caused during NATO forces operations and the resulting public anger has long been a serious issue between the West and the Kabul government.
"We deeply regret this tragic loss of life," McChrystal said in the statement. "The current operation in Central Helmand is aimed at restoring security and stability to this vital area of Afghanistan.
"It's regrettable that in the course of our joint efforts, innocent lives were lost. We extend our heartfelt sympathies and will ensure we do all we can to avoid future incidents," he added.
NATO says its rockets kill 12 Afghan civilians (UPDATE-2)
