Civilians at risk in Afghanistan. Last year the number of civilian causalities in Afghanistan hit a record according to the U.N.,, mostly at the hands of insurgents. But in recent days the focus has A news release from the palace said: "During these bombings by coalition forces, which started since this Sunday in the Logar, Kapisa, Helmand, and Badghis provinces of Afghanistan, dozens of Afghan civilians -- including women and children -- were killed or wounded."



Karzai told Allen and Crocker that civilian casualties and the bombing of Afghan villages are unacceptable, the news release said. "President Karzai said that unilateral operations by NATO forces and bombing civilians is not only an issue of Afghan sovereignty, but it is also an issue of human life, which cannot be ignored."



The statement added: "President Karzai said if the lives of Afghans are not safe then strategic cooperation between the two countries will lose its meaning and concept."



Sources close to the meeting said the news release represented an accurate portrayal of the meeting.



"We take all human loss of life very seriously," said Gavin Sundwall, a U.S. Embassy spokesman.



An Afghan police official, citing initial reports, told CNN the Badghis incident, in the northwest, killed 14 civilians and wounded six others on Sunday.



NATO's International Security Assistance Force said an airstrike in the province killed three insurgents.



Separately, six civilians were killed in Helmand on Friday when an ISAF airstrike, called in by U.S. Marines under attack from insurgents, mistakenly hit a house containing children, the Helmand governor's office said in a statement.



The statement said that insurgents had attacked ISAF and Afghan police checkpoints in Sangin on Friday and an airstrike against insurgent positions "unintentionally" killed six civilians who were in the same house.



The statement said the dead included two boys, three girls and a woman. It added: "ISAF forces also confirmed the event and apologized and they promised to help with the remaining members of the family."