The president "strongly condemned the aerial bombing by foreign troops that killed a number of children in Nejrab district" northeast of Kabul on Wednesday, said a statement from his office. "Based on information by (the) provincial governor, as a result of an air strike conducted on February 8 in Geyawa village in Nejrab district of Kapisa province, eight children were killed," the statement said. Karzai had assigned a delegation "to launch an all-out probe into the Nato bombing", it added. A Nato spokesman said he could "confirm there has been a situation. A joint assessment team went there to identify the situation". The Afghan president, who has a strained relationship with his Western allies, has regularly condemned Nato for civilian deaths in the decade-long war against Taliban insurgents fighting to overthrow him. A record number civilians were killed in Afghanistan in 2011 -- the fifth straight year the death toll has risen, the United Nations reported last week. A total of 3,021 civilians died -- mostly at the hands of insurgents -- up eight percent from 2,790 in 2010, the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in its annual report. Taliban-led insurgents caused 77% of the deaths last year, up 14 percent from 2010, while pro-government forces were responsible for killing 410 civilians -- 14 percent of the total, the report said. Most deaths attributed to Nato forces were a result of attacks from the air, but there was an overall decline of four percent in the number of civilians killed by pro-government forces, the report said.
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