How did 11 civilians die?

More on the January 5 incident in Uruzgan where NATO troops allegedly killed eleven civilians:

Australian troops in Uruzgan province stand accused of killing nearly a dozen civilians and injuring several more. The circumstances indicate that the the civilians may have been killed as the Australian troops were avenging the death of a fellow soldier.

Afghan women, children die in clashes involving DiggersTom Hyland
The Age (Melbourne)

JANUARY 11 - Australian troops fired mortars and called in air strikes in a series of intense battles in which eight Afghan women and at least one child were reported killed last week.

Australian officials have released only sketchy details about the incident, which happened a day after an Australian soldier was killed by a Taliban rocket in a fiercely contested region of Oruzgan province, in south-central Afghanistan [the soldier was killed Jan 4 - DM].

Private Greg Sher, whose funeral will be held in Lyndhurst today, was killed last Sunday at a fortified outpost in the Baluchi Valley, north-east of Tarin Kowt, where the bulk of Australia's 1000 troops are based.

Official Afghan accounts say up to 11 civilians were killed and nine wounded by rocket or missile fire the following day at a village called Qala Naw, close to the outpost.

There are conflicting versions of what happened. Local police quoted in the Afghan press said they were hit by a Taliban rocket, while some residents said they were hit in an air attack...

A statement from the Afghan Interior Ministry on Wednesday said 11 civilians were killed and nine wounded in the incident, in which 12 Taliban were also killed...

In a written response to questions from The Sunday Age, the ADF said Australian troops in the area had been engaged in "ongoing contacts" with Taliban fighters since December 29, when an Australian soldier was shot and wounded.

The following day Australian troops shot dead an Afghan man who approached a patrol "in a manner that was suspicious"... (link)

The Australian has more on the circumstances:

Troops avenge comrade
The Australian

JANUARY 12 - Australian special forces in Afghanistan have avenged the death of commando Gregory Sher by killing the Taliban leader who orchestrated the fatal rocket attack of a week ago...

"It is quite clear you made them pay for the death of a comrade," Air Chief Marshal Houston told the special forces soldiers at their Tarin Kowt base in southern Afghanistan.

He praised them for continuing the operation in a professional manner despite Private Sher's death... (link)

January's toll:

January 5: British forces in Helmand province kill between five and 19 civilians.
January 5: Australian forces in Uruzgan kill 11 civilians, according to locals.
January 6: A US-led assault kills between 17 and 23 civilians in Laghman province.