Afghanistan Times
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AT Monitoring Desk-KABUL: At least eight Afghan National Police (ANP) troops were killed in a US airstrike targeted their checkpoint in central Uruzgan province, a provincial official said on Monday.
The checkpoint in the Saki area of Tirinkot, the provincial capital on the Uruzgan-Kandahar road was bombed on Sunday evening, Highway Commander Haji Rahimullah told Pajhwok Afghan News.
Two raids were took place, he said, adding that once police officer was killed in the first raid, while seven others were killed in the second airstrike.
“Taliban had raised their white flags in nearby areas, but their position was not pounded by the American,” he furthered.
Furthermore, provincial council member Zahir Naderi told Afghanistan Times that there were two strikes in the checkpoint. “First raid had no causality, but the second raid that took place 15 to 20 minutes later, killing at least eight policemen.”
He added that this checkpoint was located in the Saki area of Trinkot.
He added that it was for around ten years that this checkpoint was there in a bid to maintain security in the area.
Moreover, US military spokesman Gen. Charles Cleveland said the raid was conducted after a group of militants attacked Afghan security personnel in Tirinkot.
“I can confirm that we conducted an airstrike against individuals firing on, and posing a threat to, our Afghan partners in Tarin Kot (Trinkot) on 18 September. We don’t have any further information on who those individuals might have been or why they were attacking ANDSF forces. U.S., Coalition, and Afghan forces have the right to self-defense, and in this case were responding to an immediate threat. I would refer you to the Afghan interior ministry for any more information.”
