The most senior US general in Afghanistan has asked for another inquiry into US air strikes that Afghan and UN teams say killed 90 civilians after new evidence emerged.

The US-led coalition has steadfastly rejected the civilian tolls from the August 22 strikes on the western village of Azizabad, in Shindand district, saying only five to seven civilians were killed along with 30-35 Taliban.

But US General David McKiernan said in a statement late Sunday there was "emerging evidence" about the incident.

In light of this, "I feel it is prudent to request that US Central Command send a general officer to review the US investigation and its findings with respect to the new evidence," he said.

McKiernan heads the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, which works alongside the coalition, but he is the most senior US commander in Afghanistan.

His statement was issued from the main US base at Bagram, north of Kabul.

If the toll of 90 is confirmed, it would be one of the deadliest such incidents since the United States led troops into Afghanistan seven years ago to remove the Taliban from government and round up extremist militants.

The Afghan government says that there is video footage backing up its claim of more than 90 dead which is with its intelligence agency.

A Western official also says he has seen mobile telephone footage that shows clearly children among the dead lined up in a mosque before they were buried.

"The video clearly shows 40-50 people under shrouds with at least 11-12 children with their heads blown off and their faces melted," he said on condition of anonymity.

UN spokesman Adrian Edwards said meanwhile that "the UN continues to stand by its finding."

The coalition has said it called in the strikes in Shindand after its troops, said by Afghans to be Special Forces, came under attack while on patrol with Afghan commandos.

It says the dead civilians were relatives of an important Taliban commander, who was among the dead.

Afghan locals have said however that the strikes hit people gathered overnight ahead of a ceremony to mark the death of an important local.

The incident prompted President Hamid Karzai to sack two senior Afghan army officers for western Afghanistan and his government to demand a review of the regulations governing the presence of international troops in Afghanistan.