KABUL, September 9, 2008 (AFP) - NATO-led planes mistakenly bombed a house in a weapons malfunction in Afghanistan Tuesday, killing two civilians, the force said, amid concern about the number of Afghans being killed in military action.

Another 10 civilians were wounded when the weapon missed its target in the eastern province of Khost, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement.

'An air-launched weapon dropped from an ISAF aircraft today in Khost has accidentally killed two civilians and wounded up to 10 others,' it said.

ISAF forces on the ground had called in an air strike to help attack militants when the mishap occurred, it said.

'When released, the weapon suffered a serious malfunction and missed its intended target by more than 2.5 kilometres (1.5 miles) impacting on a qalat (compound),' the statement said.

The incident comes amid concern about how many civilians are being killed in international military action after allegations that more than 90 people, most of them children, died in US military strikes two weeks ago.

The coalition disputes the figure saying five to seven died along with 30-35 Taliban rebels.

If the toll of 90 is confirmed, it would be one of the deadliest such incidents since the United States led troops into Afghanistan seven years ago to remove the Taliban from government and round up extremist militants.

Human Rights Watch said Monday that civilian casualties in air strikes nearly tripled from 2006 to 2007, when at least 321 were killed.

In the first seven months of this year, international air strikes had killed at least 119, it said, warning of a public backlash.