NATO kills 3 civilians, wounds 4 others in air strike in S. Afghanistan: gov't

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- A NATO helicopter killed three civilians and wounded four others during an air strike in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan, provincial government said Friday.

The helicopter stroke a minibus on the Kandahar-Oruzgan highway in Shawali Kot district of Kandahar province at about 11 p.m. Thursday, killing three men and wounding one woman and three children, according to a press release issued by the provincial governor house Friday.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement it was sending a team to investigate reports of civilian casualties in the operation.

"Initial operational reports indicate that men were placing an IED next to the road," ISAF said in the statement. "After firingon the men from a helicopter, ISAF forces discovered civilians in a car adjacent to the IED site."

Civilian casualties have increased in Afghanistan in 2009. Bothmilitants and troops are held responsible for harming non-combatants in Afghanistan.

On Dec. 8, hundreds of Afghans protested in eastern Laghman province over a NATO operation in which the Afghan government said six civilians were killed. ISAF rejected the claim, saying all those killed were militants.