NATO blamed in childrens' deaths KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- An Afghan official report has blamed a NATO airstrike for the recent deaths of seven children and a young adult in eastern Afghanistan. The eight died last Wednesday near a village as they tended to their sheep and goats, Afghan officials said in their investigation, The New York Times reported. Mohammed Tahir Safi, an adviser to the Afghan president who led the investigation into the incident, said the strike occurred after a dawn clearing operation by NATO troops in the village. I call on human rights community and the world community: Who will speak up for the rights of these children? Safi said, adding one of the victims was between 18 and 20 years old, while the rest were much younger, the report said. The investigating team made up of Afghan security forces, local elders and politicians was accompanied by NATO to the site of the attack in a remote snowbound area, the Times said. The incident is also being investigated by NATO, alliance spokesman Lt. Col. Jimmie Cummings said. "We were engaging a group of armed men that we observed engaging in unusual behavior," and the attack was "in accordance with our tactical directives," the spokesman said. "Afterwards additional casualties were discovered," he said. He said the investigation will show how those casualties occurred.