Claim: NATO Air Strike Kills Afghan Election Campaigners

Afghan officials say a NATO airstrike killed 10 election campaign workers.

NATO said all those killed or wounded were insurgents, and included one Taliban commander, the BBC reported Thursday. NATO called it a "precision air strike."

Abdulawahid Khorasani, a candidate who was injured in the attack, called for an investigation. Some of his staff were killed.

Abduljabar Taqwa, governor of the northern province of Takhar, said the attack occurred in the Rostaq district. He said there were no insurgents in the area.

"Without any coordination, without informing provisional authorities, they attacked on their own, civilian people who were in a campaign convoy," he added.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said NATO forces should be able to tell the difference between fighters and peaceful campaigners.The Rostoq governor said parliamentary candidate Abdulawahid Khorasani was in a convoy of 100 vehicles, and was among those wounded.

Afghan officials ridiculed NATO statements, saying Taliban commanders do not travel in 100-vehicle convoys.

The New York Times reached Khorasani in his hospital bed. "What reaction can I have? "NATO came in, killed my supporters and my campaigners. They are powerful, what can I do? I cannot do anything."

A NATO statement said the insurgents had been carefully tracked and "after careful planning to ensure no civilians were present, coalition aircraft conducted a precision air strike on one sedan and later followed with direct fire from an aerial platform."

The statement said an estimated eight to 12 insurgents were killed.

Maj. Gen. David Garza said, "We're aware of the allegations that this strike caused civilian casualties and we'll do our best to get to the bottom of the accusations. We're confident this strike hit only the targeted vehicle after days of tracking the occupants' activity." NATO said there were six vehicles in the convoy.