Kabul, April 16 (RHC)-- Local Afghan officials say at least three civilians -- including a woman and two children -- have been killed in a U.S.-led airstrike in the country’s troubled east.

A spokesman for the governor of Afghanistan’s southeastern Khost province said the incident took place in the Zani Kheil area. The official added that a helicopter belonging to U.S.-led foreign forces opened fire on a house during a training mission.

A large number of Afghan civilians, including many women and children, have been also killed during night raids by foreign forces and CIA-run killer drone strikes. The Afghan government has repeatedly called on foreign forces to stop the airstrikes on residential areas.

Civilian casualties caused by foreign forces have been a major source of tension between Kabul and Washington. The casualties inflicted by US-led troops have sparked massive anti-U.S. protests in the past.

Washington is now pushing the Afghan government to sign a security deal to allow U.S. troops to stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has warned that he will not allow continued foreign presence if it means more bombs and civilian killings.