Afghanistan says an investigation has concluded that foreign troops killed 10 civilians - including school children - during an operation in a remote, eastern part of the country.
Asadullah Wafa, an advisor to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, led a delegation to Kunar province to investigate the incident.
He said Wednesday his team uncovered information showing 10 people were killed - all of them civilians. He said eight of them were students between the ages of 13 and 17.
Wafa's statement supports earlier claims by the Kunar provincial governor Sayed Fazlullah Wahedi.
NATO officials had previously said nine insurgents were killed during Sunday's operation in Kunar's Narang district.
Meanwhile, hundreds of university students took to the streets of Jalalabad, in neighboring Nangarhar province, to protest the killings. Many expressed anger towards the United States and U.S. President Barack Obama, some chanting "Death to Obama."
Other students promised to give up their studies and take up arms if more civilians are killed.
The United Nations released figures Tuesday showing civilian deaths in Afghanistan rose more than 10 percent in the first 10 months of this year compared to the same period in 2008.
Also Wednesday, Bulgaria said it plans to send another 30 troops to Afghanistan, boosting the total number of Bulgarian troops there to 300. The Bulgarian troops are providing security for the inner zone of the Kandahar airport.
In a separate development, NATO and Afghan officials say a U.S. soldier was killed Tuesday when an Afghan soldier opened fire on troops in the Bala Murghab district of western Badghis province.
Two Italian soldiers were wounded during the shooting. NATO says troops returned fire and wounded the Afghan soldier. It is investigating the incident.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
