Afghan villagers say NATO strike kills 9 civilians

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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — An overnight air strike by international forces killed nine civilians, including at least three children, villagers said Thursday. Afghan authorities said they had no reports of civilian deaths.

The incident illustrates the confusion and blame that regularly result from night raids and air strikes in Afghanistan and threaten U.S.-led efforts to curb the Taliban.

In Kabul, the head of the U.N. mission warned that Afghanistan cannot count on international support indefinitely unless the government tackles corruption and bad governance.

Residents of Korkhashien village drove the bodies to the governor's office in the nearby provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, and AP footage and photos showed at least two children among the dead.

Helmand provincial spokesman Daoud Ahmadi confirmed an air strike in Korkhashien, but said eight Taliban militants were killed while hiding out in a compound.

Sgt. Angela Eggman, a U.S. spokeswoman for NATO forces, said she was aware of an incident in the area and it was being investigated.

Villager Abdul Rashin said the people were killed while harvesting corn in their fields.

The convoy of vans and station wagons from Korkhashien drove from the governor's office to a central market, where the villagers shouted blame at both President Hamid Karzai and his international allies.

"Death to Karzai! Death to the foreigners!" they yelled as passers-by looked through the car windows at the blanket-covered corpses. The villagers had propped open the rear doors of the cars to show off the bodies, and young boy on a bicycle stopped to peer in.