An Afghan district governor says 22 people, most of them women and children, were killed today when US-led coalition air strikes hit a wedding party in eastern Afghanistan, but the force insisted only militants were killed.
Hamisha Gul, governor of Deh Bala district in the eastern province of Nangarhar, confirmed that 22 people, three of them men and 19 of them women and children, were killed.
His claim could not be immediately confirmed with more senior Afghan officials nor independently verified as the area is remote and difficult to access.
The US-led coalition rejected the allegations.
The coalition said in a statement that 'several' militants were killed in the air strike.
It was the second time in three days the coalition was accused of inflicting heavy civilian casualties in air strikes.
