An Afghan woman is treated in hospital in Alingar district of Laghman province, after being attacked by NATO forces. Source: AP
NATO has been accused of killing eight women, capping a weekend in which six soldiers were shot dead by presumed Afghan colleagues and a Taliban assault caused unprecedented losses on one of the biggest military bases in the country.
The US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) initially said an air strike targeted about 45 insurgents, but later extended its "deepest regrets and sympathies" over "civilians who died or were injured" in Laghman province.
In June, ISAF ordered an end to air strikes on homes, except as a last resort.
Sunday's attack came shortly before dawn, in Alingar district in the province east of Kabul, as women set off to collect firewood, said a local official.
"In this raid, eight women are killed and another eight women are wounded," provincial spokesman Sarhadi Zwak told AFP.
Tribesmen carried bodies to the provincial capital, Mihtarlam, shouting "death to America, death to the Jews" outside the governor's office, an AFP reporter said.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the killing of the women. Seven other women were wounded and a delegation had been ordered to travel to the remote area to investigate, his office said.
ISAF said "a number of Afghan civilians were unintentionally killed or injured" in the strike done "solely with the intent of countering known insurgents".
In Zabul province, part of the south where the 10-year Taliban insurgency is traditionally strongest, four US soldiers were shot dead and two wounded after being scrambled to help police repel an insurgent attack, officials said.
ISAF spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Hagen Messer said it was still unclear whether the attacker "was an individual wearing a police uniform or definitely a policeman".
"Three to four other policemen have disappeared. At the moment, we don't know where they have gone. We don't know if they fled fearing arrest or if they are linked to the Taliban," a provincial official told AFP.
Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi denied that the militia planned the attack.
Sunday's deaths took to 51 the number of Western soldiers killed by Afghan colleagues in 36 incidents this year, in a growing trend that jeopardises NATO plans to train local forces to take over when they leave in 2014.
Two British soldiers were killed on Saturday in the southern province of Helmand by a man wearing the uniform of the Afghan Local Police (ALP).
The US military's top officer, Army General Martin Dempsey, said the persistent problem of rogue Afghan soldiers and police turning their guns on coalition troops is a "very serious threat" to the war effort, which is predicated on placing security responsibility in Afghan hands.
"We're all seized with (the) problem," General Dempsey said. "You can't whitewash it. We can't convince ourselves that we just have to work harder to get through it. Something has to change."
"We've got to make sure our Afghan counterparts are as seized about it as we are," General Dempsey said. "We have to get on top of this. It is a very serious threat to the campaign."
US special forces have suspended training for about 1000 recruits to the controversial ALP, which has been accused of corruption and violence towards civilians.
The killings came as NATO detailed unprecedented damage costing well into the tens of millions of dollars in a sophisticated, well-coordinated attack on Camp Bastion, in Helmand, where Prince Harry is deployed.
Two US marines were killed and several others wounded late on Friday, when 15 attackers dressed as US soldiers, armed with guns, rockets and suicide vests stormed the airfield.
Six US AV-8B Harrier fighter jets were destroyed and two significantly damaged. Three coalition refuelling stations were also destroyed and six aircraft hangars damaged.
Prince Harry was never in danger, officials said.
Although the Taliban have vowed to kill him, it told AFP the attack was to avenge the insult to the Prophet Mohammed.
"Prince Harry is there and if we'd caught him, we would have killed him, but this attack was solidly in retaliation to the film," Mr Ahmadi said.
