Civilians, rebels killed in airstrikes by foreign forces

KANDAHAR CITY/TIRINKOT (Pajhwok): Fifteen Taliban Ezat and Ahmad Shah Himmat, have been killed in an airstrike by foreign forces, an official said on Wednesday.

Kandahar police chief Maj. Gen. Tadin Khan said civilians suffered no casualties in the airstrike in Sarkhabat area on the Kandahar-Tirinkot road. Newly recruited miscreants were the target of the air raid, he said.

US forces in Afghanistan, meanwhile, confirmed conducting precision self-defence airstrikes on people firing on Afghan and American security personnel conducting a ground movement near an ANA check point in TirinKot.

The strikes were conducted after Afghan and US forces came under effective small-arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire. The forces requested air support in self-defence.

Afghan and US forces attempted to de-escalate the situation but they continued to be fired upon, a statement from the US military said. “We are operating in a complex environment where enemy fighters do not wear uniforms and use stolen military vehicles to attack government forces.”

Earlier, Local residents said the victims were internally-displaced people, but the security forces insisted they had hit the Taliban. The strike targeted a hotel on Monday evening on the Kandahar-Uruzgan road in Shah Walikot district.

Dr. Aminullah Tokhi, a local hospital director, said 13 bodies had been shifted to the facility. He claimed the dead belonged to Gizab district.

Deputy Governor Attaullah Fazli, who visited the hospital today, said both Taliban and civilians had suffered casualties in the airstrikes. He said the victims, most from Gizab, wanted to go to Iran for work.

Resident Abdul Razaq said his three cousins were killed in the strikes.

Maj. Sadiq Esa, spokesman for the 205^th Corps, said based on a tip-off, the security forces conducted raids in Shah Walikot, killing 15 rebels.

The foreign forces stationed in Kandahar also said militants had been killed in the overnight airstrike. The Taliban have not yet commented about the incident.

nh/mud

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