Nato forces in southern Afghanistan bombed a civilian convoy, killing 27 people including women and children and injuring many more, Afghan officials said. The airstrike in a remote part of Oruzgan province yesterday capped a bloody week for Afghan civilians that has seen some 60 innocent people killed by Nato weapons.

Afghanistan’s cabinet called the attack “unjustifiable” and condemned the raid “in the strongest terms possible”.

The cars were travelling between Kandahar and Daikundi, in Afghanistan’s central highlands, when Nato and Afghan forces mistook them for insurgents. The local governor and the interior minister said all of the victims were civilians. (The Times)