Eleven Afghan civilians killed by off-target US bomb

Eleven civilians were killed when US jets bombed a house in Afghanistan yesterday, as the innocent continued to die in America's other war.

At least four of those killed were women. One man was wounded but survived.

The "tragic incident" was a mistake, said Douglas Lefforge, a spokesman at the US military headquarters in Bagram air base, near Kabul.

Innocent Afghan civilians have been killed by American bombs in a series of incidents. During the war against the Taliban in 2001, US forces repeatedly bombed civilian areas of towns, killing hundreds. Since the regime fell, Afghan civilians have continued to die in supposed pinpoint attacks launched by American troops trying to hunt down Taliban and al-Qa'ida fighters.

The latest incident happened on the outskirts of Shkin in Paktika province, a town on the wild frontier with Pakistan. At about midnight, a checkpoint manned by Afghan soldiers from a pro-American faction was attacked. The US military did not identify the attackers – but they might have been from the resurgent Taliban, who have recently stepped up attacks on international forces and their Afghan allies.

America sent in two Harrier jets, which attacked two groups of fighters. One of the jets then dropped a 1,000lb bomb, which "missed its target", according to a statement, and fell on the civilian house. How the laser-guided bomb came to miss so badly was not explained. Those inside did not have a chance. There were reports from across the frontier in Pakistan that witnesses fleeing the bombing were saying most of the victims were women and children.

"Coalition forces never intentionally target civilian locations," Lieutenant-Colonel Lefforge said. He promised the bombing would be investigated.

There was unrestrained fury from the Afghan Governor of Paktika province, Mohammed Ali Jalai. "We condemn these killings. They were neither al-Qa'ida nor Taliban. They were only innocent civilians," he said. "We have told them [the Americans] repeatedly that they need to try to be precise when they target something."

Last July an American aid group, Global Exchange, said 800 Afghan civilians had been killed by US air strikes, and accused the Pentagon of using unreliable information because it preferred air strikes to risking its troops on the ground. There is evidence that Afghan factions have fed Americans false information, claiming their private enemies are Taliban or al-Qa'ida targets.

American aircraft attacked a wedding party last July, killing 48 civilians, most of them women and children, and wounding 117. A US investigation cleared the air crew, because they had come under fire. Afghan witnesses said the only gunfire came from wedding guests firing in the air, a traditional celebration.

Fighting has increased in Afghanistan recently. There have been announcements of new US-led operations to hunt down the Taliban and al-Qa'ida, using new information from captured al-Qa'ida leaders. Yesterday, Lt-Col Lefforge said some 500 soldiers backed by helicopters had gone into the vast Helmand province, in the Taliban heartland.

But there have been renewed attacks on US and other foreign forces and their Afghan allies. The pro-US government of Hamid Karzai – which in reality has full control only in the capital, Kabul – has warned that the Taliban are reorganising in an attempt to destabilise his regime.