KABUL, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- A bomb dropped by a coalition aircraft killed 10 police in the southeastern Paktika province of Afghanistan on Thursday, according to reports, while a coalition spokesman said "a number of persons" were killed in the accident.

    Major Matthew Hackathorn, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition forces, told Xinhua a coalition aircraft dropped a bomb near Tarwa area of the province, destroyed two trucks, and killed all persons in them.

    He said coalition forces still had no information about the exact number of the casualties and the identity of those who were inside the trucks.

    "An investigation was ongoing," he added.

    A roadside bomb killed one Afghan soldier when some Afghan and coalition troops were patrolling in Tarwa area, Hackthorn said.

    A coalition aircraft rushed to the scene and dropped the bomb, he added.

    Reports quoted Abdul Rahman, Afghanistan's deputy chief of border police, as saying that 10 policemen were killed when a coalition aircraft mistakenly "dropped a bomb" on a two-vehicle border police patrol in Tarwa area Thursday.

    Paktika, a hotbed of Taliban and other anti-government militants, has witnessed much violence this year.

    Afghanistan is suffering from Taliban-linked insurgence this year, during which more than 1,800 people, mostly Taliban rebels, have been killed. Enditem