Afghans demand attack explanation

Hospital staff say many children were orphaned

The Afghan leader, Hamid Karzai, has summoned United States officials and demanded an explanation for the bombing of a wedding party yesterday in which scores of people were killed.

The Afghan government is calling for "strong measures" and "better intelligence" to avoid a repeat of attacks on civilians in wake of the bombing. Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah said that in all, four villages had been attacked - he claimed forty had been killed and around a hundred injured.

The Pentagon is sending a team to investigate the incident but the US authorities are adament that their aircraft were responding to heavy direct fire from the ground and not celebratory gun fire at a wedding party.

The attack has caused strains in the relationship between the newly formed Afghan administration and Washington. Until now, Hamid Karzai the Afghan leader, has fully supported US action in the region and efforts to hunt down Al Qaeda and Taleban fighters.

We hear from Kate Clarke, our correspondent in Kabul, and Anthony Cordesman of the American thinktank the Center for Strategic and International Studies.