KABUL (Reuters) - Air strikes by the NATO-led force in Afghanistan accidentally killed at least three Afghan police in the country's north and a woman and two children in the west, officials said on Saturday.

Sensitivities about civilian casualties and “friendly fire” incidents have been running high as violence spreads across Afghanistan, reaching its worst levels since the Taliban were ousted in late 2001.
Such incidents have been a major irritant between Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government and foreign forces fighting in Afghanistan, leading to a major falling-out last year.
Tactical directives were tightened twice in the past year as a result, as U.S. and NATO commanders sought to limit the damaging fallout from such incidents. The directives laid down tight rules governing the use of air strikes and home searches.
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said Afghan security forces had come under fire from an unknown number of insurgents in multiple locations in Jawzjan province on Friday and that the Afghan forces had requested air support.
Two helicopters then fired a Hellfire missile and 30 mm rounds at the insurgents, it said.