KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) — The death toll of civilians killed by NATO-led forces’ airstrikes in northern Afghanistan’s Kunduz province has risen to 31 with 17 others injured, the provincial government said on Friday.

“The latest figures showed that 31 civilians lost their lives and 17 others injured during the Thursday’s military operation and subsequent air raids conducted by foreign forces on outskirts of Kunduz city,” it said in a statement.

Among the victims were several women and children, the statement said, adding that an investigation has been going on into the incident and further details will be released afterwards.

On early Thursday, Afghan security forces conducted an operation in Buzi Kandahari village, outside provincial capital the Kunduz city, 250 km north of Kabul.

The NATO-led forces were also supporting the Afghan troops during the operation against the Taliban during which the local troops has called in airstrikes that inflected casualties among the residents, according to local officials.

Two U.S. troops, three Afghan soldiers and several militants were killed by the clashes.

The NATO-led Resolute Support (RS) mission in a statement put on its twitter account on Thursday said, “Airstrikes were conducted in Kunduz to defend friendly forces under fire. All civilians casualty claims will be investigated.”

The Kunduz province and neighboring Baghlan and Takhar provinces have been the scene of heavy clashes over the past couple of months as Taliban has been trying to challenge the government forces in the once relatively peaceful region.

More than 2,560 civilians were killed and over 5,830 injured between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30 this year in conflict-related incidents across Afghanistan, according to the latest figures released by UN mission in the country.

Ground engagements remained the largest cause of civilian casualties, followed by suicide attacks and improvised explosive device (IED) explosions.
• Afghan officials: blast kills 9 people on way to wedding </s> Afghan official: Taliban attack on army base in northern Kunduz province kills 26, mostly soldiers and policemen

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan official: Taliban attack on army base in northern Kunduz province kills 26, mostly soldiers and policemen. </s> At least 14 people, including women and children, have been killed in an Afghan-U.S. air strike near the northern city of Kunduz, officials say.

Afghan officials said it was still unclear whether the casualties had been caused by Afghan or U.S. aircraft, both of which flew missions in support of an operation on the ground on July 19.

A statement from the U.S. military said there was no indication that its planes were responsible.

Nematullah Temori, a spokesman for the Kunduz governor, said women and children were among 14 people killed in the raid in Chardara, a district outside Kunduz.

Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish confirmed the death toll, adding that two more civilians were injured in the air strike.

In April, an Afghan air strike on a religious school in the Dasht-e Archi district of Kunduz left at least 50 people dead, including civilians.

Military operations by both Afghan forces and militants have been stepped up in recent months, with civilian casualties reaching a new record in 2018.

According to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, 1,692 civilians were killed between January 1 and June 30 — the highest figure reported for that period in the past nine years.

The UN report also said that air strikes had increased substantially, with civilian casualties from aerial attacks rising by 52 percent in the first half of the year to 353 killed and wounded.

Separately, at least 12 police officers were killed when Taliban militants stormed a checkpoint in the Imam Saheb district of Kunduz, according to a provincial council member.

In the eastern province of Ghazni, Taliban fighters launched a wave of attacks, killing at least eight police and wounding seven others, provincial Governor Saib Khan Elham said on July 20.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and dpa

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
• Afghanistan probes deaths of 14 civilians after US airstrikes
• Families Of Kunduz Airstrike Victims Ask For Justice; former president, Hamid Karzai has called the incident a war crime and inhuman </s> KABUL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th June, 2019) The Taliban have attacked an Afghan army base in northern province of Kunduz, killing at least eight soldiers and wounding more than four, local officials told Sputnik on Sunday.

"The Taliban stormed an Afghan forces base in Amam Saheb district that killed at least eight Afghan soldiers and wounded four, capturing several others," Zargul Alamy, a member of Kunduz provincial council, told Sputnik.

Local police command has refused to comment on the incident.

The attack comes as US and Taliban peace talks have entered their second day in the Qatari capital. They are aimed at ending one of the deadliest wars in the region.

Taliban launched its deadliest attack in recent weeks on Friday, killing 43 Afghan security personnel in Baghlan and Kandahar provinces. </s> KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - An Afghan official says at least five civilians and 35 insurgents have been killed in an airstrike by Afghan forces in northern Kunduz province.

Nematullah Temori, spokesman for the provincial governor in Kunduz, said Tuesday that 55 civilians were wounded in the attack a day earlier in Dashti Archi district. He said a government delegation is investigating the incident.

Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish earlier said the airstrike targeted Taliban fighters and killed more than 30 of them, including nine commanders. He said large number of fighters had gathered in the area to hold a military parade.

The Taliban said in a statement that the airstrike hit a madrassa, or Islamic religious school, killing and wounding more than 100 clerics, religious students and other civilians. </s> KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A Taliban attack on an Afghan army outpost near the northern city of Kunduz has killed at least 29 soldiers, while air strikes in other parts of the country killed dozens of insurgents, officials said on Thursday.

On the day that NATO leaders meeting in Brussels were discussing Afghanistan, the fighting was a sharp reminder that no end to the war is in sight despite the hundreds of billions of dollars spent by Kabul’s international allies.

Kunduz, a strategic northern city which the Taliban have come close to taking twice in the past three years, has been relatively calm but fighting has picked up since the end of a three-day truce during last month’s Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Sunnatullah Temori, a spokesman for the governor in neighboring Takhar province, said the soldiers were killed when the Taliban stormed a base in Pul-e-Momin, an area between the provinces of Kunduz and Takhar late on Wednesday.

He said the insurgents had seized a large quantity of weapons and ammunition and said fighting was threatening the center of nearby Khwaja-e-Ghar district, which he warned could fall if reinforcements were not sent quickly.

The latest fighting comes despite speculation about possible peace talks between the government and the Taliban, with calls from a special religious council meeting in Saudi Arabia this week for negotiations to end the 17-year conflict.

The United States last year stepped up air strikes as part of a strategy to force the Taliban to the negotiating table and commanders say that together with the fledgling Afghan air force, the campaign has inflicted heavy casualties on the insurgents.

However, despite the temporary Eid ceasefire, the Taliban have rejected peace talks while Islamic State militants, opposed to both the Western-backed government and the Taliban, have claimed a series of deadly suicide attacks in the past two weeks.

On Thursday, officials said dozens of militant fighters were killed in ground and air operations in Zurmat and Ahmad Aba districts of the eastern province of Paktia while in Ghazni, to the south, at least 27 Taliban were killed by an air strike on Wednesday.

Heavy fighting was also reported in the western province of Farah, where the Taliban came close to overrunning the provincial capital in May.

In Logar province, immediately to the south of Kabul, the Taliban burned down a school, the second they have destroyed in a month, Kabir Haqmal, a spokesman for the ministry of education said. </s> KUNDUZ, Afghanistan: As many as 14 people, including women and children, were killed in an air strike carried out during an operation by Afghan security forces near the northern city of Kunduz on Thursday, officials said.

The civilian deaths add to a total that reached record levels in the first half of the year, according to a United Nations report this week that noted a sharp jump in casualties from air strikes.

Nematullah Temori, a spokesman for the Kunduz governor, said the 14 killed in the raid in Chardara, a district outside Kunduz city that has long been fought over between Taliban and government security forces, included women and children.

The incident underlined the risks from the increased use of air power under a U.S. strategy designed to force the Taliban to accept peace talks. As well as conducting more air strikes of its own, the United States is also heavily assisting the fledgling Afghan air force.

As air strikes have increased, the U.N. report said civilian casualties from aerial attacks rose by 52 percent in the first half of the year to 353 killed and wounded and it urged forces to improve civilian protection in air operations.

Mohammad Radmanish, a spokesman for the ministry of defence, confirmed that a number of civilians had been killed but said the incident was still being investigated. He said it was unclear whether the strike had been conducted by the Afghan airforce or U.S. aircraft.

"An investigation team from Kabul has been deployed to the province to investigate the incident," he said. "For the moment it is difficult to say how many civilians were killed or wounded and who conducted the air strike."

There was no immediate comment from the headquarters of the NATO-led Resolute Support mission in Kabul.

A statement from the Taliban said 28 civilians had been killed. It said most of the victims were women and children and blamed U.S. forces.

According to the United Nations, at least 1,692 civilians were killed in the conflict during the first half of the year, the highest total ever recorded in the equivalent period.

Kunduz, a key strategic target for the Taliban that briefly fell to the insurgents in 2015, has seen repeated incidents in which civilians have been killed by air strikes.

In April, dozens were killed by a strike on Dasht-i Archi district that local villagers said hit people attending a religious ceremony. </s> Co-ordinated Taliban attacks on two Afghan army bases and three checkpoints in the country's north left at least 30 soldiers dead, officials say.

Kunduz district provincial council member Maulawi Abdullah said 15 people were wounded in the battles late Wednesday.

Asam Afzali, a councillor in Takhar, estimated the number of Afghan troops killed at about 40.

It was not immediately clear if member of the Taliban were killed or wounded in the attacks on posts which are located between Dasht-e Archi district of Kunduz and Khwaja Ghar district of Takhar province.

The militants subsequently set fire to the bases after they overran them, according to Afzali.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said around 72 soldiers were killed and nine others were wounded in the attacks.

Kunduz and Takhar are among the most volatile provinces in northern Afghanistan. The Taliban has an active presence and controls several districts across the provinces, while others remain contested. </s> A series of near-simultaneous attacks blamed on the Taliban have killed dozens of Afghan soldiers in the country's northern Kunduz Province, security forces say.

"We have suffered casualties. The Taliban has also suffered casualties," Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish told the AFP news agency on July 12.

He added that an air-and-ground operation against Taliban fighters was under way.

Officials said militants used night-vision goggles and fired artillery shells as they launched simultaneous raids on several Afghan military bases and posts in Kunduz's Dasht-e Arch district.

"Since we don't have the night-vision [goggles], the Taliban can get close to soldiers without them noticing," an Afghan commander told AFP.

Taliban extremists have bolstered their fighting capabilities by stealing U.S.-made Humvees, weapons, and other equipment, including night-vision goggles, during raids on Afghan military sites.

An official casualty total from the attacks was not immediately available. But AP and AFP quoted other security sources as saying that at least 30-40 security personnel had been killed and many others wounded.

Army spokesman Mohammad Hanif Rezaie said 15 soldiers were killed and 13 others wounded in a four-hour gunbattle at one security post in Dasht-e Arch.

In Takhar, a spokesman for the governor said an army base on the province border with Kunduz had been attacked and was now under Taliban control.

The spokesman, Sunatullah Timor, told AFP that 29 security personnel had been killed and another 17 wounded.

"No reinforcements have come to the area yet," he said.

In a Twitter statement, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks and said its fighters had captured one army base and 11 posts, killing 65 soldiers and "many local police officers."

In a separate incident in the southeastern province of Ghazni, Afghan forces launched air strikes on a gathering of high-ranking Taliban members, killing 24 militants and wounding 17.

The Kabul government has struggled in the past year against resurgent Taliban fighters, as well as Islamic State (IS) and Al-Qaeda militants, nearly two decades after a U.S.-led coalition drove the Taliban from power in Afghanistan in 2001.

The Afghan Defense Ministry on July 8 said its forces had doubled their offensive operations against insurgents since the end of the government's unilateral cease-fire directed toward the Taliban.

President Ashraf Ghani declared an end to the 18-day truce, but he also called on the Taliban to resume peace negotiations. IS and Al-Qaeda were not included in the cease-fire.

So far, the Taliban have not responded to Ghani's offers for dialogue, instead demanding to sit down with the United States, which has dismissed this proposal.

The United States has some 14,000 troops in Afghanistan, providing the main component of the NATO mission to support and train local forces.

NATO leaders meeting in Brussels said they had agreed to "sustain our presence in Afghanistan until conditions indicate a change is appropriate" and that the alliance had extended financing for the effort through 2024.

"This will help them further develop their special forces and air force, as they continue to fight international terrorism. We also expressed strong support for President Ghani's bold peace proposal," NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on July 12.

With on reporting by AFP and AP
According to officials, an attack by the Taliban near Kunduz kills 29 Afghan Army soldiers. Air strikes kill dozens of militants elsewhere in the country.