Kabul , Afghanistan ( CNN ) -- Nine people killed in a military action targeting militants in eastern Afghanistan apparently were members of an insurgent network , a U.S. military official told CNN on Tuesday . `` The operation was against a network of folks , who had been tracked for a while , involved in producing IEDs as well as some criminal activity , '' said the official , who asked not to be named . `` As a result of the action , the best info that we have is that nine of those militants in that network were killed . That 's based on weapons and IED components at the scene , '' and it appears the nine were males , the official said . IED is the acronym for improvised explosive device , which is a roadside bomb . U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan said Monday they were investigating reports that 10 Afghan civilians , including eight students , were killed Saturday in a coalition operation in the Narang district of Kunar province . Said Fazelayallah , governor of Kunar province , told CNN Monday that 10 civilians , in fact , were killed . Coalition forces said they killed their targets , he said , but a delegation sent by the governor to investigate reported the civilian casualties . Civilian casualties in the Afghan war have stoked outrage among the citizenry and Afghan authorities . U.S. and other international forces have been working to stop such fatalities , and they have accused Taliban militants of putting civilians in harm 's way . The United Nations in Afghanistan said on Tuesday that from January to October of this year , 1,404 deaths have been caused by insurgents ; 465 have been caused by pro-government forces , such as NATO 's International Security Assistance Force ; and other causes have led to 165 civilian deaths . In this Kunar province incident , Fazelayallah said the operation was launched without the knowledge of government officials in the province . The U.S. military source said it was `` a joint operation with Afghan and U.S . forces . '' The numbers of civilian casualties have fallen off in recent months , since Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal took over as U.S. commander in Afghanistan . The military 's goal is to protect population centers to enable the government to improve security and governance , McChrystal told CNN 's Christiane Amanpour earlier this month . Civilian casualties , he said , make it less likely that the Afghans will support the coalition . `` It is better to miss a target than to cause civilian casualties , '' he said . `` We can always target enemy leaders later . We ca n't make up for the fact that we killed civilians . '' CNN 's Atia Abawi contributed to this report .
Kunar province source : 10 militants involved in building roadside bombs were killed . Provincial governor says panel found Nine civilians were killed in coalition operation . The U.S.-led operation took place in the U.S. district of Narang on Saturday .