NATO airstrike kills 21 civilians

Afghan officials haveagain revised the death toll from a NATO airstrike in the centre of the country down to at least 21 civilians killed, froman earliercount of 27.

The Afghan Interior Ministry said investigators had collected 21 bodies and that two people were missing following Sunday's airstrike on a convoy of civilian vehicles in Uruzgan province.

In a first statement on Monday, the Afghanistan Council of Ministers strongly condemned the airstrike, saying it was "unjustifiable."

Earlier, the Afghan cabinet said initial reports indicated NATO fired Sunday on a convoy of three vehicles killing at least 33 civilians, including four women and one child. Itlater revised the death toll figure to 27, butneither partiesprovided a reason for the revisions.

The ministers said 12 others were injured while they were on their way to Kandahar.

In a statement, NATO confirmed itthought the vehicles contained Taliban insurgents on their way to attack Afghan and foreign military forces. In fact, according to the Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman, they were full of civilians.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander in charge of NATO troops in Afghanistan, said he was "extremely saddened by the loss of innocent lives."

"I have made it clear to our forces that we are here to protect the Afghan people and inadvertently killing or injuring civilians undermines their trust and confidence in our mission," McChrystal said in a statement. "We will redouble our effort to regain that trust."

On Saturday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai admonished NATO troops for not doing enough to protect civilian lives. During a speech at the opening session of the Afghan parliament, Karzai called for extra caution on the part of NATO, which is currently conducting a massive offensive on the southern Taliban stronghold of Marjah in neighbouring Helmand province.

"We need to reach the point where there are no civilian casualties," Karzai said. "Our effort and our criticism will continue until we reach that goal."

NATO and the Afghan government have launched a joint investigation into the incident.