.jpg)
HERAT CIRTY (SW): At least 15 civilians have died in a U.S. air strike in Herat’s Shen Dand district, local officials said on Tuesday.
Syed Azeem Kabrzani, member of the provincial council, told Salam Watandar that the air raid targeted Bakht Aabad area in the district killing 15 people and leaving a number of others wounded. He went on to claim that the air raid has been conducted without any coordination with the Afghan forces.
The locals in Shen Dand, however, claim the air raid has been conducted by the Afghan forces.
Jailani Farhad, spokesman for the provincial governor, said in this regard that the U.S. forces conducted an air raid on the Taliban’s hideouts in the Bakht Aabad area on Monday. He said 16 Taliban militants, including two top commanders, have been killed and four more wounded in this raid.
He also confirmed that there are reports from the area suggesting the civilian population near the Taliban’s hideouts also sustained losses in the air raid. The spokesman informed reports from the area suggest at least 13 civilians including women and children got killed and seven more wounded in this raid. Farhad added that up to 19 civilians got free from the Taliban’s captivity following this raid.
The governor’s spokesman underlined investigations into the incident are underway.
Mohammad Rafiq Sherzay, spokesman for the regional public hospital, informed that a dead body and four injured people have been brought to the hospital from the area.
ENDS
