Hundreds of Afghans in a central Afghanistan town on Sunday protested the killing of 12 civilians, who were initially misidentified as Pakistani nationals, officials said, dpa reported.
Officials in the south-eastern province of Paktia had said that unknown gunmen attacked a passenger bus in province's Samkani district on Saturday and killed 11 Pakistani civilians.
But residents in the central province of Logar said the victims were Afghan civilians Khoshi district who were returning home from Pakistan when the attack took place.
Zamarai Bashary, spokesman for Interior Ministry, acknowledged Sunday that 12 Afghan civilians were killed in the attack and two others were injured. He said a government investigation was ongoing.
Nearly 1,000 people gathered in Puli Alam city Sunday to protest the killings, demonstrator Mohammad Karim said.
"The people are angry at the officials in Paktia, because they sent the dead bodies to Pakistan without proper investigation," he said. "The people from Khushi district are on the way to Pakistan to bring the bodies back."
"The people want the government to bring the killers to justice," Din Mohammad Darwish, spokesman for the provincial governor, said.
The motive behind the shooting was not known. No group took responsibility for the attack.
NATO blamed Taliban insurgents for the attack and said soldiers had treated four wounded civilians.