Afghans killed in US air strike

United States forces have attacked a village in south-eastern Afghanistan, killing three civilians, locals say.

A BBC reporter who went to the village of Tani, in Khost province, saw the bodies of two men and a woman. Two villagers were injured.

Local residents say helicopter gunships were involved in the dawn attack.

A US military spokeswoman in Kabul said the three dead were "enemy killed in action". She said 23 people were detained in the operation.

'Family feud'

The mayor of Khost, Jalil Ahmad Hassani, said the raid followed an attack on a patrol of US soldiers.

They were civilians and it was an accident Jalil Ahmad Hassani, Khost mayor

He said people in a house had fired upon the patrol because they were frightened and thought the soldiers were "enemies driving towards them".

"The Americans fired back and asked for air support," Mr Hassani said.

But villagers at the scene said there had been a family feud and Afghans had wrongly identified the house to the Americans as a hideout for supporters of al-Qaeda or the Taleban.

A statement released by spokeswoman for the US coalition, Sergeant Cindy Beam, on Friday said "precision air support was used and all rounds were on target" during "tactical raids".

"The three deaths occurred after [anti-coalition militia] fired on and wounded four US soldiers," the statement said.

"The raids resulted in 23 detainees and three enemy killed in action."

The four injured soldiers were taken to the Bagram base near Kabul for treatment.

Around 20,000 troops of the US-led coalition are hunting al-Qaeda and Taleban remnants in Afghanistan.