At least 30 civilians have been killed, many of them children, in Northern Afghanistan after airstrikes were called in to protect US and Afghan troops fighting the Taliban. <br /><br /> NATO has said it will investigate the reported deaths, near the city of Kunduz. <br /><br /> The air support was apparently requested after two US soldiers were killed. <br /><br /> Afghan officials have said there was heavy fighting overnight in the village of Buz Kandahari, about 5 Km from the centre of Kunduz, which Afghan fighters succeeded in entering last month.<br /><br /> “Airplanes started bombing from ten at night until six in the morning. Four children, a father, mother and grandfather from one family are all here. We pulled out their bodies from the rubble,” one local resident said. <br /><br /> Another 25 civilians were also reportedly wounded in the operation against the Taliban. <br /><br /> Later, residents carried over a dozen bodies to the local governor’s office in Kunduz to demonstrate their anger.<br />
