FARAH CITY (SW): Local officials and provincial council members in Farah have claimed 19 civilians have died in an air raid by the Afghan Air Force (AAF) here.
Fareed Bakhtawar, member of the provincial council, told Salam Watandar the security forces targeted the Taliban militants’ hideouts in the Bala Balook district on Thursday. He claimed not a single militant has died, and all casualties of this offensive are civilians.
Meanwhile, the public hospital in province has confirmed the death of 4 people while 19 civilians, including women and children have been confirmed injured.
The local civil society activists are also concerned about the situation. They have lamented the growing insecurity and increasing clout of the Taliban in a number of districts, and have blamed poor security mechanism by the government for it.
The provincial government, however, has rejected reports about civilian casualties. Syed Ahmad, chief of the Bala Balok district, said all civilians left the area before the air raid, and all hit in this raid are militants. Mohammad Nasir Mehri, spokesman for the provincial governor, has vowed to investigate the matter.
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