Afghanistan probes civilian casualties in military operation

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan: Afghan authorities are probing reports that 14 civilians were killed or wounded during a military operation, the defence ministry said Friday, with several officials saying women and children were among the victims.

The casualties were caused by an air strike in the northern province of Kunduz on Thursday, Char Dara district governor Zalmai Farooqi and villagers told AFP.Villager Haji Shireen said 13 people, all women or children, were killed in the aerial bombardment that also destroyed some houses in Robat village.

An AFP reporter said he saw 12 bodies when he visited the village on Thursday.Kunduz regional hospital head Naeem Mangal said the bodies of 12 women and children had been brought to the medical facility. “Women and children were martyred,” Farooqi said, blaming “foreign” forces for the air strike.

US forces had carried out air strikes “in support of Afghan-led ground operations” in the district, NATO’s Resolute Support mission said in a statement.

But “an on-the-ground assessment of those strikes revealed no indications they caused civilian casualties,” it added. The defence ministry statement did not specify if the casualties were caused by an air strike.

“A high-ranking military and government delegation has been appointed to closely investigate the incident,” the statement said. Kunduz governor spokesman Naimatullah Taimor confirmed an investigative team had arrived in Char Dara district.

The incident comes days after a UN report showed the number of civilians killed in the nearly 17-year conflict hit a record high in the first six months of 2018.