Kunduz, Afghanistan: US air strikes early on Thursday killed at least 30 Afghan civilians, including women and children, in the volatile northern province of Kunduz, officials said, after a Taliban assault left two American soldiers dead.

The strike triggered emotionally charged protests in the provincial capital, with the victims’ relatives parading mutilated bodies of dead children piled into open trucks through the streets of Kunduz city.

The carnage underscores worsening insecurity after the Taliban last month overran the city for the second time in a year, as NATO-backed Afghan forces struggle to rein in the insurgents.

US-backed Afghan special operations forces were conducting an operation against the Taliban on the outskirts of the city when they came under insurgent fire, prompting calls for air support.

‘In the bombardment, 30 Afghan civilians were martyred and 25 others were wounded,’ provincial spokesman Mahmood Danish told AFP.

Police spokesman Mahmoodullah Akbari gave the same toll, adding that the dead included infants aged as young as three months and other children.

Taza Gul, a 55-year-old laborer, was among dozens of angry protesters outside the Kunduz governor’s office, bringing with him the bodies of seven dead family members in a motorized tricycle.

‘I am devastated. I want to know why these innocent children were killed. Were they Taliban?’ said Gul, breaking down in tears. ‘No, they were innocent children.’

NATO said on Twitter that the air strikes were conducted by US aircraft.

‘As part of an Afghan operation, friendly forces received direct fire and air strikes were conducted to defend themselves,’ Brigadier General Charles Cleveland, a senior spokesman for the NATO mission, said in a statement.

‘We take all allegations of civilian casualties very seriously,’ he added, noting that NATO would help the Afghans investigate the incident, but he stressed it was an Afghan operation overall.

A US defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said ‘multiple’ manned US planes were involved in the strikes, and they were targeted by small-arms fire from the ground.

Civilian casualties caused by NATO forces have been one of the most contentious issues in the 15-year campaign against the insurgents, prompting strong public and government criticism.

Errant air strikes contributed to a 42 percent jump this year in casualties caused by pro-government forces compared to last year, according to the UN.

‘Previous violations of international humanitarian law by US/NATO troops still remain uninvestigated and unpunished,’ Amnesty International said, condemning the Kunduz strikes.

‘This cannot be another example of inaction in the face of such loss of life.’

US State Department spokesman Mark Toner described the incident as a ‘terrible event.’