STOCKHOLM (Reuters/AFP) - EU ministers fiercely criticised Nato on Saturday for an airstrike in Afghanistan that local officials said killed scores of people, many of them civilians, saying that it was an unacceptable catastrophe as well as a great tragedy. The ministers said the air raid undermined efforts at nation-building they had begun to focus on. The attack took place a day before EU foreign ministers met in Stockholm to discuss ways to boost Western efforts to stabilise Afghanistan and stem an insurgency. Asked what more the bloc could do to improve the situation, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told reporters, It is difficult to say, but mainly to work with the Afghan people and not to bomb them, not only to bomb them. This was a big mistake, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told reporters as he arrived for a second day of talks with his EU counterparts in Stockholm. Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn called Fridays airstrike in Kunduz province an unacceptable catastrophe while EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Fererro-Waldner said it was a great tragedy that should be investigated. I cannot understand that bombs can be dropped so easily and swiftly, Asselborn said. Afghan officials say scores of people were killed, many of them civilians, when a US F-15 fighter jet called in by German troops struck two hijacked fuel trucks before dawn on Friday. Germanys European Affairs Minister Guenther Gloser was mum on the issue. However German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung defended the action, saying in the Bild newspaper: When just six kilometres away from us, the Taliban take two fuel tankers, that represents a serious danger for us. The German military has confirmed a German commander approved the airstrike. In Stockholm, EU ministers stressed the need to be able to work with a new Afghan government untainted by corruption once results of the contested presidential elections become clear. Ferrero-Waldner said the EU would work with the new government that emerged, but did not say if aid flows would be affected if there were lingering questions about the elections. Luxembourgs Asselborn told Reuters ministers had agreed Afghan election authorities should report on irregularities and redress them by insisting on a second round of voting if the overall result had been affected. The French and Luxembourg ministers comments added to a growing chorus of criticism of Natos actions. In order to tackle Afghanistans huge drug production and trafficking problem, the proposals stress the need for rural development and alternative production and giving a chance to the farmers, EU External Relations Commission Benita Ferrero-Waldner said. In other areas, such as health care and education, the 27-nation bloc started a blue book where EU members and the European Commission would detail their activities so as to avoid duplication and increase effectiveness of all aid efforts. Another idea is to set up a kind of civil academy to train administrators. Ferrero-Waldner said there was broad ministerial support for the idea which must now be refined and fleshed out. She stressed that it was vital to have a reliable, non-corrupt government in place, saying otherwise it would be like throwing money down a hole. Frattini said meanwhile the EU was hammering out plans for an international conference in Kabul early next year on Afghanistans reconstruction that would be attended by EU foreign ministers.