A group of US soldiers attacked three houses in a village at Panjwai district near Kandhar, killing 16 civilians including women and children.
There were conflicting reports about how many shooters were involved, with U.S. officials asserting that a lone soldier was responsible. Witness accounts said there were several U.S. soldiers involved.
The incident was one of the worst of its kind since U.S.-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taliban in late 2001.
The U.S. Embassy in Kabul said anti-U.S. reprisals were possible following the killings, just as the Koran-burning incident triggered widespread anti-Western protests in which at least 30 people were killed.
"DEEPLY SADDENED"
Neighbors and relatives of the dead said they saw a group of U.S. soldiers arrive at their village in Kandahar's Panjwai district at about 2 a.m., enter homes and open fire.
Obama said he was deeply saddened. "This incident is tragic and shocking and does not represent the exceptional character of our military and the respect that the United States has for the people of Afghanistan," Obama said in a statement.
Karzai condemned the rampage as "intentional murders" and demanded an explanation from the United States. His office said the dead included nine children and three women.
BLOOD-SPATTERED WALLS
An Afghan man said his children were killed and accused soldiers of burning the bodies.
"I saw that all 11 of my relatives were killed, including my children and grandchildren," a weeping Haji Samad said after returning to find the walls of his home splattered with blood.
"They (Americans) poured chemicals over their dead bodies and burned them," Samad told Reuters at the scene.
The Afghan Taliban said in a statement emailed to media that it would take revenge for the deaths.
The Koran burning and the violence that followed, including a spate of deadly attacks against U.S. soldiers, underscored the challenges the West faces as it prepares to withdraw.
Sunday's attack may harden a growing consensus in Washington that despite a troop surge, a war bill exceeding $500 billion over 10-1/2 years and almost 2,000 U.S. lives lost, prospects are dimming for what can be accomplished in Afghanistan.
"These killings only serve to reinforce the mindset that the whole war is broken and that there's little we can do about it beyond trying to cut our losses and leave," said Joshua Foust, a security expert with the American Security Project.
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