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U.S. forces in Afghanistan had refuted the Taliban claim of a U.S. strike.
AT News
KABUL: Five members of a family have lost their lives after their house bombarded by air force in Lashkargah city of the southern Helmand province, a survivor and the residents said. Five more of the family had received injuries in the airstrike. The victims are two girls and three boys.
We had recently resettled in Lashkargah city, Juma Khan, a survivor of the attack who lost his family said.
“My two daughters and three sons were martyred, five more people were wounded, we are here now and don’t know what to do,” Juma Khan lamented.
Residents in the province meanwhile brought the dead bodies of the victims in front of the governor’s office to protest the air strike on civilians, TOLOnews, a local tv channel reported.
“The children have been harmed in the attack,” said Mohammad Naeem, a protestor.
Meanwhile, provincial governor Abdul Nabi Elham said that presently it is not confirmed whether the civilians were killed as a result of an air strike or a mortar attack by the armed opponents.
“Up till now it is not clear for us whether it was caused as a result of an air strike or a mortar attack,” said Elham.
Attaullah Afghan, a member of Helmand’s provincial council, meanwhile confirmed that women and children had been killed in the attack.
“We call on the Taliban to avoid making fighting positions inside the people’s homes, the government should also try to be precise in their operations,” said Afghan.
Local security officials of the province promised of full-scale probe into the incident, assured of brining the culprits to the book.
The Ministry of Defense is said to investigate allegations of civilian casualties as a result of an airstrike in the province.
The air force targeted a group of Taliban in the Basharan area of Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, as they were planning a terrorist attack on defense and security forces, according to the defense ministry.
“The enemy suffered casualties in the attack. The Ministry of Defense is investigating civilian casualties in the attack.”
The U.S. forces in Afghanistan had refuted the Taliban claim of a U.S. strike.
In response to Taliban Spokesman Ahmadi’s accusations the U.S. conducted the Lashkar Gah strike, USFOR-A Spokesman Col Sonny Leggett said, “This is not true, USFOR-A did not conduct a strike in Lashkar Gah, Helmand.”
Talban blamed the US forces for the strike that killed civilians in the province.
