PUL ALAM: A US air strike killed up to 10 Afghan soldiers on Monday at an army checkpoint in a Taliban-infested province south of Kabul, one of the deadliest episodes of `friendly fire` from foreign forces in recent years.

The early morning raid in Baraki Barak district of Logar province comes as coalition forces increase air strikes on potential militant targets despite a drawdown of Nato forces after 13 years of war.

The bombing marked the second such incident in the area since last December when a Nato air strike killed five civilians and wounded six others.

`At 6am today, two US helicopters attacked a checkpoint in Baraki Barak,` district governor Mohammad Rahim Amin said.

`The checkpoint caught fire... and 10 Afghan army soldiers were killed,` he added, revising down his earlier toll of 14.

Civilian and military deaths in coalition air strikes have been one of the most emotive and high-profile issues of the war, often provoking fury from the government.

An American military of ficial said he was `aware of an incident involving US forces in Logar province this morning`.-AFP