KABUL, Afghanistan — An explosion in a mountain village in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday left at least seven civilians dead just after a joint U.S. and Afghan military raid killed four Taliban fighters there, Afghan officials said.

Shaheedullah Shaheed, a spokesman for the governor of Wardak province, said seven civilians including one woman were killed, but villagers put the number of civilian deaths at 16.

A spokesman for the international forces said an investigation was under way and that the explosion occurred after the Taliban fighters were killed. It was unclear what caused the explosion, but the villagers blamed the international forces.

The raid took place in the Tangi Valley, a remote area of Wardak province, a Talibanheld region that has been treacherous for Americans. In 2011 it was the site of an insurgent attack that brought down a Chinook helicopter, killing all 30 Americans on board including 22 Navy SEALs, the largest single loss of U.S. troops in the 11-year war. Eight Afghans on the helicopter also died.

In recent months, insurgents have taken a toll on the Afghan forces in the area. Thirty Afghan National Army soldiers have been killed in ambushes and explosions in the past 11 months and another 70wounded, said Maj. Saifuddin Zaffari, the operational commander for the Afghan army’s 3rd Battalion of the 4th Brigade, which has responsibility for the Tangi region.

In Sunday’s raid, which occurred before dawn, a team of U.S. and Afghan special-operations forces detained a Taliban leader and then were fired upon by Taliban gunmen who were hiding in a mosque. At least some of the Taliban were wearing suicide vests, which exploded during the fight, destroying the mosque, Afghan officials said.

“It was a joint ground operation in Hassan Khail village of Seyda Bad that killed four armed Taliban inside the mosque,” Zaffari said.

“Some civilians were trying to collect the bodies or to get their weapons and other ammunition when suddenly a huge explosion took place and resulted in civilian casualties, but we don’t know the exact numbers,” he said.

A spokesman for the international forces, Lt. Col. Hagen Messer, said that early reports from villagers that there had been an airstrike were incorrect and that it was a groundoperation that killed the Taliban.

“We also found a weapons and explosives cache and destroyed it before withdrawing,” he said, adding, “We are aware of reports that there may have been civilians killed.”

He added: “If there were civilians killed, it was after the operation.”

An elder in the area, Juma Khan, who has Taliban ties and was in the village on Sunday morning, said 16 villagers were killed and that their bodies were being prepared for burial. Of those, eight were elderly women and two were young boys from the same family.

Zabiullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman for the north and east of Afghanistan, acknowledged that Taliban had been killed in the raid, but said only two had lost their lives.

Across the border in Pakistan, a roadside bomb hit an army convoy Sunday, killing 14 soldiers, one of the deadliest attacks against the army in the North Waziristan tribal area, intelligence officials said.

The remote region is home to Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaida militants at war with the government. It is also used as a sanctuary by other militants who have focused their attacks in neighboring Afghanistan.

The attack Sunday occurred near Dosalli village in North Waziristan, said Pakistani intelligence officials. The blast destroyed two vehicles and damaged a third, they said.

The 14 dead and 20 wounded were taken to a military hospital in the nearby town of Miran Shah, the officials said.

Pakistani military officials confirmed the bombing but said four soldiers were killed and 11 others wounded. The discrepancy could not immediately be reconciled.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

Early this morning, Pakistan’s prime minister said the government of a southwestern province was dismissed in response to the demands of protesters angry about an attack on minority Shiite Muslims there that killed 86 people.

Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said the governor was made head of Baluchistan province, replacing the chief minister. Also, paramilitary forces will launch an operation against militants behind the attack on a billiards hall Thursday.

Thousands of Shiites protested for a third day Sunday in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, against the billiards hall attack, refusing to bury victims from the bombing.

Information for this article was contributed by Alissa J. Rubin and Sharifullah Sahak of The New York Times and by Ishtiaq Mahsud, Rasool Dawar and Zaheer Babar of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 5 on 01/14/2013