Mediaboss Marketing

According to Afghan officials 11 civilians, including women and children, were killed in Haska Mina district of Nangarhar province by a US air strike.

Photo by: AFP

Afghan women with their children walk as they flee the area where US air forces allegedly targeted a civilian vehicle in Haska Mina district Nangarhar province on August 12, 2017.

The United States on Saturday vehemently denied claims by Afghan officials that it had killed several civilians in an air strike in volatile easternAfghanistan.

Afghan officials had said 11 civilians, including women and children, were killed when a private vehicle was struck in Haska Mina district of Nangarhar province, a hotbed of Daeshactivity, on Thursday.

But United States Forces-Afghanistansaid in a statement the air strike "killed a number of militants".

"The militants were observed loading weapons in to a vehicle and were under surveillance until the vehicle was destroyed by an airstrike," said Bob Purtiman, a spokesman for American operations inAfghanistan.

"The strike was conducted in the middle of open terrain. There was zero chance of civilian casualties.

"This was the second false claim of civilian casualties in the same district in the last three weeks," Purtiman added.

Of the roughly 13,000 foreign forces inAfghanistanonly the US carries out airstrikes.

They have been regularly targeting Daeshpositions inseveral districts in restive Nangarhar.

Civilian casualties caused by NATO forces have been one of the most contentious issues in the close to 16-year campaign against insurgents, prompting strong public and government criticism.

Last month a US air strike killed 16 policemen in Helmand province. It came after a US air strike in Sangin killed at least 18 civilians, mostly women and children, in February.

Civilian deaths are at an all-time high inAfghanistan. In the first half of the year, 1,662 civilians were killed and more than 3,500 injured, according to the United Nations.

Attack on army vehicle kills 15 in southwestern Pakistan

Key Mongolian freshwater source faces fuel contamination

Outrage as 64 children die at India hospital

Russia's Lavrov warns of conflict over North Korea

Tibetan exiles hold rally backing India

If N Korea provokes US retaliation, will China remain neutral?

Here is the original post:
US denies air strike killed civilians in Afghanistan - TRT World