United Nations, Dec 08: United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said he was "profoundly saddened" by reports that nine children were killed in Afghanistan, apparently as a result of an air strike carried out by US-led coalition forces targetting a Taliban leader. "The Secretary-General has noted that the coalition will conduct an investigation into this tragic incident and urges that the investigation be comprehensive and that its results be made public," a UN spokesman said in a statement released in New York.

Noting that "this is not the first time innocents have been killed as a result of coalition air-strikes in Afghanistan," Annan urged that the findings of the investigation include measures to ensure that such tragic mistakes are not repeated.

Stressing that the protection of civilians in armed conflict is an obligation of all parties, he said the fight against terrorism "cannot be won at the expense of innocent lives."

The children were killed in an air attack on a suspected "terrorist" south of the town of Ghazni on Saturday which also left the man the coalition forces were hunting dead. Bureau Report