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| Children die in Afghan air raid | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Seven children were killed in a US-led coalition air strike against a suspected al-Qaeda hideout in eastern Afghanistan, the coalition has said. | Seven children were killed in a US-led coalition air strike against a suspected al-Qaeda hideout in eastern Afghanistan, the coalition has said. |
| A statement said that a number of militants were also killed in the raid in Paktika province near Pakistan. | A statement said that a number of militants were also killed in the raid in Paktika province near Pakistan. |
| The children are believed to have been students at a madrassa, or Islamic school, at the targeted compound. | The children are believed to have been students at a madrassa, or Islamic school, at the targeted compound. |
| On Sunday, a devastating bomb attack on an Afghan police bus in Kabul killed 35 people and injured more than 30 others. | |
| A coalition statement said the air raid followed "credible intelligence" that al-Qaeda militants had taken shelter at the complex. | |
| 'Saddened' | |
| "Coalition forces confirmed the presence of nefarious activity occurring at the site before getting approval to conduct an air strike on the location," the statement said. | |
| It said the compound in the Zarghun Shah district of Paktika province, about 120 miles (180kms) south of capital Kabul, also contained a mosque and a madrassa (Islamic school). | |
| The statement said that residents of the targeted compound reported that militants had been at the camp all day. | |
| "This is another example of al-Qaeda using the protective status of a mosque, as well as innocent civilians, to shield themselves," The AFP news agency quoted coalition spokesman Major Chris Belcher as saying. | |
| "We are saddened by the innocent lives that were lost as a result of militants' cowardice," he added. | |
| The police academy bus was completely destroyed by the blast | |
| The BBC's Charles Haviland in Kabul says the foreign forces in Afghanistan constantly accuse militants of using civilians as human shields. | |
| There is, however, anger at the rising number of civilians killed in such foreign-led strikes, and President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly asked the coalition and the Nato-led forces to try to minimise such casualties, he says. | |
| The fact that the coalition issued this statement quite rapidly suggests it is expecting a negative reaction, our correspondent says. | |
| The air strike came hours after a bomb attack on an Afghan police bus in Kabul killed 35 people and injured more than 30 others. | |
| Police said a number of civilians were also among those killed in the rush-hour attack close to police HQ in the city centre. Five foreigners were wounded in the attack. | |
| It is thought to be the most devastating bomb attack in Kabul since the Taleban were ousted in 2001. | |
| The BBC's world affairs editor, John Simpson, says such an attack is disturbingly new on the streets of Kabul and the tactics appear to have been borrowed directly from Iraq. |