A Nato airstrike killed nine members of a family in Afghanistan when their mudbrick home was hit by two huge bombs. It was the second time in less than 24 hours that coalition forces were blamed for the deaths of civilians.The incident appeared likely to increase tension between Nato and Hamid Karzai, the Afghan President, who accused international troops yesterday of not doing enough to avoid civilian casualties and of damaging public support for his administration The airstrike took place on Sunday night after militants fired on a Nato base in Kapisa, just north of Kabul. Coalition forces retaliated and hit a civilian compound, killing five adults and four children, aged between 6 months and 5 years.
A US military statement confirmed that two 2,000lb bombs landed on the compound. The Nato base at Kapisa is staffed by US forces. Lieutenant-Colonel David Accetta, a coalition spokesman, said: “Coalition forces observed two men with AK47s leaving the scene of the rocket attack and entering the compound. These men knowingly endangered civilians by retreating into a populated area while conducting attacks against coalition forces.”
After seeing the men entering the compound American forces called in the airstrike. It is unclear how many insurgents, if any, were killed in the blast, but Zemarai Bashray, an Interior Ministry spokesman, told The Times that nine civilians were killed and that the Government had sent a delegation to the area to investigate the incident further.