Afghan Officials Claim NATO Airstrike Killed Child

Afghan officials say a NATO airstrike has mistakenly killed a child and wounded two other civilians in eastern Afghanistan.

Officials say NATO aircraft mistakenly hit a civilian vehicle while targeting insurgents in Khost province on Wednesday. The Afghan officials say the operation killed two suspected militants.

NATO said it is investigating the report of civilian casualties.

Coalition officials say the airstrike

targeted a leader of the Haqqani network in Khost, and that two insurgents were killed and one wounded.

NATO said a civilian vehicle and two pedestrians appeared on the road at about the same moment that the airstrike hit the militants' vehicle. Immediately afterwards, coalition officials say, Afghan forces spoke with the driver of the civilian vehicle, who told them no one was injured in his car.

NATO says it is trying to confirm the status of the two pedestrians.

Civilian casualties caused by foreign troops have angered Afghan President Hamid Karzai and prompted apologies from the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.