Civilians including women and children were killed in a U.S. air strike aimed at Taliban militants in Afghanistan's Kandihar province, Afghan officials said.

A spokesman for the governor of Kandihar said "a huge number" of people were killed and injured Monday at a wedding party mistakenly targeted by U.S. forces after a firefight with Taliban militants in the same village, the New York Times reported Wednesday.

Ahmad Wali Karzai, brother of Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai and leader of the provincial council in Kandahar, confirmed to the Times there were civilian casualties but said it was unclear how many people had died.

"The coalition and Afghan authorities are investigating reports of non-combatant casualties in the village of Wech Baghtu," Cmdr. Jeff Bender, deputy public affairs officer of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement issued to reporters. "If innocent people were killed in this operation, we apologize and express our condolences to the families and the people of Afghanistan."

Bender said it was "unclear at this point" what had happened but added an investigation was ongoing.