KABUL: A provincial government official says an early morning Nato airstrike in Afghanistan's central Logar province killed five Afghan National Army soldiers and wounded another 17.

The official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to talk to the media, says the strike occurred at 2 am Thursday.

He said government officials were in meetings to decide their response and to conduct a further investigation into the incident.

There was no immediate response from Nato to requests for comment. If it turns out that a Nato strike killed ANA troops, it is likely to set Afghan President Hamid Karzai on another attack against US and Nato soldiers in his country.

The president has been deeply critical of civilian deaths by international forces.