Afghan 'civilians killed in NATO airstrike'

At least five civilians, including three children, have been killed in a NATO airstrike in eastern Afghanistan, officials have said.

The civilians, aged between 12 and 20, were killed overnight on Friday while they were out hunting birds in the area of Saracha, a few kilometres from Jalalabad city, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province, provincial police spokesman Hazrat Hussain Mashreqiwal told the AFP news agency.

However, the US-led coalition said that it targeted fighters and that its initial reports indicate no civilian casualties.

Lieutenant Colonel Will Griffin, a spokesman for the coalition, told the AP news agency that the attack near an airport used by NATO forces was a "precision coordinated strike".

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