Zeenews Bureau
Kabul: At least eight women were killed and eight women were injured in a NATO air strike attack in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Laghman on Sunday evening, an official said.
According to reports, the attack took place in the area of Dilaram village, in Alingar district of Laghman province. The slain women were reportedly going to the mountains to collect fire wood and nuts from a forest in the Noarlam Saib valley.
However, the provincial council member of Laghman, Gulzar Sangarwal told a news agency that the number of victims died in the air strike was nine.
The dead bodies of the victims were carried to Mihtarlam by some tribesmen from Alingar.
While condoling the "tragic loss of lives", NATO's US-led International Security Assistance Force said, “The troops carried out the air strike at 45 insurgents.”
Earlier in the day, four soldiers of the NATO-lead ISAF were killed by Afghan policemen in the so-called ‘green on blue’ attacks.
The attack came a day after two British soldiers were shot dead by an Afghan Local Police (ALP) service member in southern Helmand province.
The large number of civilian casualties has strained the ties between Afghan government and NATO-led forces.
Meanwhile, Afghan President, Hamid Karzai called off his visit to Beijing and expressed anger over the brazen attack.
First Published: Sunday, September 16, 2012, 19:01