The Taliban denied any militants had been present during the air strike and said 200 civilians had died or been injured.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Unama) said that while it could not confirm or deny the presence of Taliban fighters at the time of the air strike, it questioned "the extent to which the government undertook steps and concrete measures to prevent civilian casualties".

The report added that the high number of child casualties raised concerns over "the Government's respect of the rules of precaution and proportionality under international humanitarian law".

Investigators noted that residents felt "caught in the middle" of the conflict between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

Both the Afghan government and the provincial governor have launched their own investigations into the incident, though their findings have not yet been released.

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack, saying at the time that "such raids, carried out in the name of fighting terrorism... are against all principles".