KABUL -- Afghans going about their business in the capital Kabul vented their fury at the United States on Tuesday for a bombing reported to have hit a wedding party, killing dozens of civilians, many of them women and children.

"It's our tradition to shoot guns at weddings -- it doesn't mean we're Al Qaeda," said Abdul Wadood, 43, who was out shopping, referring to reports that U.S. planes had mistaken celebratory fire for an attack, Reuters said.

"It's not the first time this has happened. Enough is enough. We want (President Hamid) Karzai to make the United States stop." Karzai has been one of the U.S.-led coalition's firmest supporters in the war against terrorism. He was brought to power under a UN-sponsored peace accord after the fall of the Taleban last year, but his critics see him as a stooge for Washington.

Afghan Defense Ministry official Gulbuddin told Reuters on Monday the wedding ceremony was attacked when participants fired into the sky as part of the celebration.

The U.S. military said it ruled out that explanation, reporting it had responded to sustained, hostile fire from the ground and saying it was investigating further.

"We are very upset at what has happened," said newspaper kiosk worker Hafizullah. "America must not do it again, killing innocent people in the name of the war against Al Qaeda." The United States launched air strikes in Afghanistan last year against the Al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden, blamed for the September 11 attacks on Washington and New York, and the group's Taleban protectors.

Rahimullah Yusufzai, an executive editor of *******The News******* newspaper in Pakistan and an expert on Afghan affairs, said Karzai needed to condemn the bombing firmly, especially because it affected his own tribe of Durrani Pashtuns.

"By failing to protest the Uruzgan bombing, Karzai would lose whatever little support he has among the Pashtuns, but it would also reinforce the impression he cannot go against the U.S. interest in Afghanistan," he wrote in Tuesday's ****News******.

There have been several reports of the United States mistakenly attacking civilian targets. In May, the U.S. Army rejected reports it had attacked another wedding party, mistaking party gunfire for an attack.

"We've been through war for 23 years," said student Farid Nahim, 28. "We don't want any more such mistakes. They should take precautions.