US raid kills dozens of civilians

US helicopter gunships and jets attacked a house while a wedding was under way, killing and injuring scores, witnesses and hospital officials said.

US officials said an AC-130 gunship and a B-52 launched an attack after American forces came under fire.

Afghans in the southern city of Kandahar, where the injured were brought, said the incident occurred in the village of Kakarak in Uruzgan province, where special forces and other coalition troops are searching for al-Qaida and Taliban fugitives.

They said the attack began about 2am and lasted for about two hours.

At Bagram air base north of Kabul, US military spokesman Col. Roger King said an AC-130 gunship, a B-52 bomber and other aircraft joined the attack after coalition ground forces came under fire.

"Right now there are a lot of different opinions as to what happened," King said. He said US investigators would be sent to the area.

In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman said a coalition air reconnaissance patrol that was flying over Uruzgan province reported coming under anti-aircraft artillery fire.

Other coalition aircraft opened fire on the target and at least one bomb went astray.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was not immediately clear where the errant bomb hit.

He said the Pentagon was aware of reports from Afghanistan of civilian casualties in Uruzgan province but it was unclear whether they were caused by the errant US. bomb or by falling anti-aircraft artillery.

Hospital officials said a number of wounded were being brought to Kandahar. Most of the dead and injured were women and children, they said.