US accused of bombing Afghan wedding party, killing 37

U.S. warplanes bombed a wedding party, killing 37 people, including 23 children and 10 women, Afghan authorities have claimed.

The bombing on Monday afternoon in the remote village of Wech Baghtu in the southern province of Kandahar destroyed an Afghan housing complex where women and children had gathered to celebrate.

The U.S. military said it was investigating the report but an American spokesman added that 'if innocent people were killed in this operation, we apologise and express our condolences'.


Body parts littered the wreckage and nearby farm animals lay dead.

A bombing run by fighter aircraft a short while later destroyed the compound and killed 37 people, including 23 children, ten women and four men, according to a local farmer whose daughter was to get married.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai referred to the incident at a news conference today held to congratulate Obama on his U.S. presidential election victory.

Karzai said he hopes the election will 'bring peace to Afghanistan, life to Afghanistan and prosperity to the Afghan people and the rest of the world'.

He applauded America for its 'courage' in electing Obama.

But he also used the occasion to immediately press Obama to find a way to prevent civilians casualties in operations by foreign forces.

He then said air strikes had caused deaths in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province.

'Our demand is that there will be no civilian casualties in Afghanistan. We cannot win the fight against terrorism with air strikes,' Karzai said.

'This is my first demand of the new president of the United States - to put an end to civilian casualties.'

The alleged air strikes come only three months after the Afghan government found that a U.S. operation killed some 90 civilians in western Afghanistan. A U.S. report said 33 civilians died in that attack.

Another incident with a high number of civilian casualties could severely strain U.S.-Afghan relations.