<p>Women and children were among the dead. An investigation is underway to determine who was responsible for the strike.<br /><br />"A rocket was launched. It hit a civilian house where many people sought refuge (and) 40 to 45 people were killed," Waheed Omar said, referring to a reported attack in the Sangin district of Helmand province on Friday.<br /><br />Asked if the attack was carried out by NATO forces, Omar said: "We will have to wait for the final report."<br /><br />Karzai ordered the National Security Council to investigate the incident, Sediq Sediqqi, head of media relations at the presidency, said earlier.<br /><br />The dead included women and children, he said. Reports surfaced on Saturday that a helicopter gunship fired on villagers who had been told by insurgents to leave their homes as a firefight with troops from NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was imminent.<br /><br />According to witness accounts, men, women and children fled to Regey village and were fired on from helicopter gunships as they took cover.<br /><br />Abdul Ghafar, 45, said that he lost "two daughters and one son and two sisters" in the attack.<br /><br />He and six other families fled to Regey, about 500 metres (yards) from their village of Ishaqzai, after being warned about the imminent battle, he said.<br /><br />Men and women took shelter in separate compounds, he said, ahead of an expected firefight between Taliban and NATO troops.<br /><br />"Helicopters started firing on the compound killing almost everyone inside," he said, speaking at the Mirwais hospital in Kandahar city.<br /><br />"We rushed to the house and there were eight children wounded and around 40 to 50 others killed," he said.<br /><br />He took three girls and four boys to the Kandahar hospital, he said, adding: "Three of the wounded are my nephews and one is my son. One of the wounded children is four years old and has lost both parents."<br /><br /></p>
<p>Women and children were among the dead. An investigation is underway to determine who was responsible for the strike.<br /><br />"A rocket was launched. It hit a civilian house where many people sought refuge (and) 40 to 45 people were killed," Waheed Omar said, referring to a reported attack in the Sangin district of Helmand province on Friday.<br /><br />Asked if the attack was carried out by NATO forces, Omar said: "We will have to wait for the final report."<br /><br />Karzai ordered the National Security Council to investigate the incident, Sediq Sediqqi, head of media relations at the presidency, said earlier.<br /><br />The dead included women and children, he said. Reports surfaced on Saturday that a helicopter gunship fired on villagers who had been told by insurgents to leave their homes as a firefight with troops from NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was imminent.<br /><br />According to witness accounts, men, women and children fled to Regey village and were fired on from helicopter gunships as they took cover.<br /><br />Abdul Ghafar, 45, said that he lost "two daughters and one son and two sisters" in the attack.<br /><br />He and six other families fled to Regey, about 500 metres (yards) from their village of Ishaqzai, after being warned about the imminent battle, he said.<br /><br />Men and women took shelter in separate compounds, he said, ahead of an expected firefight between Taliban and NATO troops.<br /><br />"Helicopters started firing on the compound killing almost everyone inside," he said, speaking at the Mirwais hospital in Kandahar city.<br /><br />"We rushed to the house and there were eight children wounded and around 40 to 50 others killed," he said.<br /><br />He took three girls and four boys to the Kandahar hospital, he said, adding: "Three of the wounded are my nephews and one is my son. One of the wounded children is four years old and has lost both parents."<br /><br /></p>