KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghan officials said fighter aircraft battling militants accidentally killed up to 27 Afghans walking to a wedding ceremony in eastern Afghanistan early Sunday, the second military attack in three days with reports of civilian deaths.

President Hamid Karzai had already ordered an investigation into allegations that missiles from U.S. helicopters struck civilians on Friday in eastern Afghanistan, though the Defense Ministry said Sunday that attack on the Nuristan-Kunar border killed or wounded 20 militants.

U.S. Army Gen. David D. McKiernan, the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, told The Associated Press on Sunday that the two incidents were being investigated. He noted that militants hide among and intimidate civilians.

U.S. spokesman 1st Lt. Nathan Perry said the military has repeatedly seen militants falsely claim civilians were killed.

"Whenever we do an airstrike the first thing they're going to cry is 'Airstrike killed civilians' when the missile actually struck militant extremists we were targeting in the first place," Perry said. "At this time we don't believe we've harmed anyone except for the combatants."

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- The United Arab Emirates canceled billions of dollars of Iraqi debt Sunday and moved to restore a full diplomatic mission in Baghdad, evidence of Iraq's improved security and growing acceptance of its Shiite-led government.

The Abu Dhabi government announced the debt relief and the naming of a new UAE ambassador to Baghdad shortly after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki began a visit to the wealthy Gulf nation.

The news was sure to bolster al-Maliki's government, which has been urging Iraq's Sunni Arab neighbors to forgive loans taken during Saddam Hussein's regime and restore diplomatic relations.

Al-Maliki, who has been in office since May 2006, thanked the UAE for the debt cancellation, telling a meeting with local businessmen that it was a "swift and courageous" decision. The Emirates' official news agency, WAM, quoted the country's president, Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as saying he hoped canceling the debt would lighten the "economic burden" facing Iraqis, who he urged to unite behind al-Maliki's government.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A suicide bomber targeted police officers in Pakistan's capital Sunday, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens while thousands of Islamists marked the one-year anniversary of a deadly military crackdown on a mosque nearby.

The blast -- apparently the deadliest in Islamabad in about a year -- again brought Pakistan's battle against militancy, mainly staged in the northwest tribal regions near Afghanistan, home to the usually tranquil capital.

The attack occurred in an intersection near a police station and a shopping center. Just moments before the explosion, an Associated Press reporter passed by the scene and saw more than 20 police gathered there. Afterward, the area was covered in blood, glass, police riot gear, and body parts.

Naeem Iqbal, a police spokesman, said at least 15 people died, most apparently police.

Less than a half mile away, thousands of Islamist students and clerics had gathered in memory of last year's siege of the radical, pro-Taliban Red Mosque.

It was not clear if the events were linked, and a mosque official condemned the attack.

ANKARA, Turkey -- Two retired generals were jailed Sunday in connection with an alleged plot to topple Turkey's Islamic-rooted government, the highest-ranking ex-soldiers detained as part of the probe, a news report said.

The two, arrested late Saturday, were among 21 people rounded up in the past week in the investigation into an alleged pro-secular and nationalist network called "Ergenekon," the state-run Anatolia news agency said.

Ret. Gen. Hursit Tolon, who once headed the paramilitary force, and former top army commander Sener Eruygur, who helped organize a series of anti-government rallies last year, were being held at an Istanbul jail.

No charges have been filed, and details about the alleged plot were sketchy Sunday. Some newspapers close to the government have said the suspects were plotting a series of events -- such as mass demonstrations and violent clashes with police -- that would lay the ground for an army takeover.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Britain called Sunday for tough action as well as talk in the face of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's defiance and signs of disunity among his opposition.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband urged South Africa and the rest of the international community to "unite behind a tough, strong, clear (U.N.) Security Council resolution" calling for international sanctions against Mugabe.

Miliband spoke to reporters after visiting a downtown Johannesburg church that is a refuge for Zimbabweans fleeing their homeland's political and economic crises.

South Africa, though, has said the proposed resolution could undermine President Thabo Mbeki's attempt to mediate between Mugabe and Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

The U.S.-drafted resolution backed by Britain would require nations to freeze the financial assets of Mugabe and 11 of his officials, and to restrict their travel to within Zimbabwe.