Kabul: A NATO air strike left up to 12
civilians dead in eastern Afghanistan, local officials said
on Tuesday, but the US-led foreign military said they had killed
insurgents.
Troops targeted Taliban insurgents overnight in the
Azra district of Logar province, south of the capital Kabul,
officials said.
NATO called in air strikes on two houses where
suspected insurgents had gathered for a meeting, district
police chief Bakhtiar Gul said.
"Twelve civilians, including women and children,
were killed last night when NATO planes targeted two houses,"
he said, adding that the bodies of four Taliban insurgents had
been recovered from the rubble.
But provincial spokesman Din Mohammad Darwish said
only that an "unknown" number of civilians were killed, along
with seven Taliban.
NATO`s International Security Assistance Force
(ISAF) said they had killed "numerous" insurgents in the
strike.
ISAF spokesman Justin Brockho said troops were
hunting a Taliban commander in the district when they came
under fire and called in an air strike.
"Last night combined Afghan and coalition forces
killed numerous insurgents during an operation in the Azra
district of Logar province," he said.
"We do not have any operational report that
indicates civilians being harmed."
PTI
