The US military says that an unknown number of militants and civilians have been killed in a US airstrike in Afghanistan.
The US admission came after senior officials in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar said that 17 civilians were killed in a US air raid there on Friday.
US forces launched the airstrike on a suspected militant hideout in Chichal village amid the search for a missing US reconnaissance team.
A local governor said that a number of women and children were among the dead.
Meanwhile, US forces looking for the missing team searched mountains in the east of the country this morning.
It came after reports which the US military declined to confirm that one Special Forces soldier had been rescued having evaded militants for five days.
The US military says the reconnaissance team has been missing near the Pakistan border since last Tuesday, just before militants shot down a Special Forces helicopter coming to their aid, killing all 16 aboard.
The US military has refused to say how many soldiers were missing, but The New York Times quoted a Pentagon official as saying it was a four-man team, including the soldier rescued.
The official identified the rescued man as a Navy Seal commando.
