Karzai Again Questions U.S. Military Moves

KABUL, Afghanistan — President Hamid Karzai on Friday ordered an investigation of eight slayings during a raid that U.S. forces said had targeted Al Qaeda members but that police said killed civilians -- the second time in a week his government has questioned the military’s tactics.

A statement released by Karzai’s office said he had ordered a “thorough investigation” of the killings Thursday, in which a 10-year-old was among those slain.

Also Friday, a roadside bomb and an ensuing gunfight in eastern Afghanistan left two U.S.-led coalition soldiers dead and another two wounded, officials said today. Six insurgents were killed and a dozen injured in clashes with Afghan police in the south.

The two coalition soldiers died when a bomb exploded while they were on patrol in Laghman province, triggering a gunfight that injured two others, the U.S. military said. It didn’t reveal the names or nationalities of the slain and wounded troops.