Afghan official: US airstrikes kill 8 policemen in south

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan official says at least eight Afghan police officers have been killed in two U.S. airstrikes in southern Uruzgan province in what was apparently a friendly-fire incident.

Rahimullah Khan, a provincial operational commander, says the first airstrike killed one policeman at a checkpoint outside the provincial capital of Tirin Kot, while the second, which struck the same area, killed seven others.

Khan says the airstrikes took place on Sunday afternoon around Tirin Kot. The Taliban have been advancing on the city in recent weeks.

A U.S. military spokesman confirmed that U.S. forces carried out an airstrike, saying they sought to assist Afghan troops who were fired on by the Taliban.

Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland says he doesn't "have any further information" on who the casualties may have been. </s> A U.S. air strike killed as many as eight Afghan policemen outside the embattled Provincial capital of Uruzgan province, Afghan officials said on Monday, as security forces, supported by U.S. strikes, battle resurgent Taliban militants. An initial air strike late on Sunday killed one policeman, while a follow up strike targeted first responders, killing at least seven, said Rahimullah Khan, commander of the reserve police unit in Uruzgan. Another official, Uruzgan deputy police chief Mohammed Qawi Omari, put the death toll at six but also reported the police were killed by a foreign air strike.

The U.S. military command in Kabul confirmed its warplanes had conducted an air strike in the area, but said they targeted “individuals firing on, and posing a threat to” Afghan national security forces. — Reuters </s> LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A U.S. air strike killed as many as eight Afghan policemen outside the embattled provincial capital of Uruzgan province, Afghan officials said on Monday, as security forces, supported by U.S. strikes, battle resurgent Taliban militants.

An initial air strike late on Sunday killed one policeman, while a follow up strike targeted first responders, killing at least seven, said Rahimullah Khan, commander of the reserve police unit in Uruzgan.

Another official, Uruzgan deputy police chief Mohammed Qawi Omari, put the death toll at six but also reported the police were killed by a foreign air strike.

The U.S. military command in Kabul confirmed its warplanes had conducted an air strike in the area, but said they targeted “individuals firing on, and posing a threat to” Afghan national security forces.

“We don’t have any further information on who those individuals might have been or why they were attacking ANDSF (Afghan national defense and security forces),” U.S. military spokesman Brigadier General Charles Cleveland said in a statement.

“U.S., coalition, and Afghan forces have the right to self-defense and in this case were responding to an immediate threat.”

Afghan officials said they were investigating the attack and were in contact with the U.S.-led coalition.

Afghan security forces, supported by American air strikes and international military advisers, are battling Taliban militants who have fought a 15-year insurgency against the Western-backed government in Kabul.

Taliban fighters briefly entered Uruzgan’s capital city, Tarin Kot, in early September, according to provincial officials, before being pushed back by security forces. </s> An Afghan official says at least eight Afghan police officers have been killed in two U.S. airstrikes in southern Uruzgan province in what was apparently a friendly-fire incident.

Rahimullah Khan, a provincial operational commander, says the first airstrike killed one policeman at a security outpost outside the provincial capital of Tirin Kot, while the second, which struck the same area, killed seven others.

'An airstrike killed one police officer and when seven others returned to the security post, foreign aircraft carried out another raid, killing all of them,' he told VOA.

Khan says the airstrikes took place on Sunday afternoon around Tirin Kot. The Taliban have been advancing on the city in recent weeks.

A U.S. military spokesman confirmed that U.S. forces carried out an airstrike, saying they sought to assist Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) who have been in combat with Taliban assailants in the area.

'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,' Brigadier General Charles Cleveland said.

Tarin Kot is one of several provincial capitals in Afghanistan who have faced Taliban attacks in recent weeks as the assailants attempt to take control of the city.

Insurgents managed to break through into the city earlier this month but were pushed back by Afghan forces-backed by US air power-shortly after.

In June President Barack Obama gave further authorization to the U.S. military in Afghanistan to mobilize its air and ground support when needed to assist Afghan forces in its struggle against the Taliban.

Last year Afghan officials claimed a US airstrike killed 11 counter-narcotics police officers on patrol in Garmsir district in the volatile Helmand province in a friendly fire incident.

While in July 2015 a US helicopter airstrike killed eight Afghan soldiers and wounded five others in Logar, sources in Afghanistan say. </s> Up to eight policemen have been killed in Afghanistan as a result of US airstrikes, officials told media. The US has confirmed one airstrike, but insists the assault was in response to a threat.

An initial airstrike killed one policeman late Sunday, while a follow-up strike targeting first responders killed at least seven others, said Rahimullah Khan, commander of the reserve police unit in Uruzgan, according to Reuters.

Afghanistan’s ToloNews also reported that the eight Afghan National Police (ANP) officers were killed at their checkpoint in central Uruzgan province.

“The enemies were far, about 800 meters from our check posts and their flags were up and they were coming and bombing the police. It seems that it was ordered or they made a mistake. Anyone who was involved in this should be punished,” an anonymous official told the news outlet.

One of the soldiers who survived the attack, identified as Torjan, said: “I was at my check post. The first attack killed our colleagues and while we were trying to pull-out our colleagues from the check post than another attack happened.”

The US military command in Kabul has confirmed its warplanes conducted an airstrike in the area, but said those targeted were “individuals firing on, and posing a threat to” Afghan national security forces.

“We don’t have any further information on who those individuals might have been or why they were attacking ANDSF [Afghan national defense and security forces],” US military spokesman Brigadier General Charles Cleveland said in a statement.

“US, coalition, and Afghan forces have the right to self defense and in this case were responding to an immediate threat,” Cleveland added as quoted by Reuters.

Afghan officials said they are investigating the attack and communicating with the US-led coalition.

Afghan security forces, with the support of US airstrikes and international advisers, continue to battle Taliban militants in the country. The group has been fighting a 15-year insurgency against the Western-backed government.

This comes after an airstrike by the US-led coalition in Syria killed 62 government soldiers and injured 100 others amid a fragile ceasefire on Saturday. The US military admitted it may have unintentionally struck Syrian troops while carrying out a raid against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) militants.

Russia has Exposed Cabal Support of the Islamic State in Syria — 17 Select Headlines </s> Afghanistan has launched an investigation into the alleged airstrike by the US forces on Afghan policemen that left at least 8 policemen dead.

The Ministry of Interior of Afghanistan (MoI) said an investigation is underway regarding the alleged airstrike that took place in southern Uruzgan province.

The Ministry further added that the circumstances surrounding the alleged airstrike will be ascertained once the investigation concludes.

MoI also added that the findings of the Ministry will be shared with the people once it is completed.

The investigation has been launched a day after the commander of the highway forces on Kandahar-Uruzgan highway said the airstrike by US forces left at least 8 policemen dead.

The airstrike was launched amid deteriorating security situation in Uruzgan province.

The Taliban militants earlier launched a coordinated attack on the provincial capital Tarinkot and put the strategic city on the verge of collapse.

In the meantime the US forces in Afghanistan have resumed airstrikes against the Taliban insurgents under the new broader role granted by the Obama administration earlier this year.

Follow Khaama Press (KP) | Afghan News Agency on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook. Stay updated via RSS </s> Flags fly on top of homes in Uruzgan, Afghanistan, signaling that Afghan National Security Forces have cleared the area of insurgents and weapons during Operation Chamtoo in December 2013. The Afghan government will investigate a series of U.S. airstrikes that apparently killed eight people in the region over the weekend, officials said Tuesday. Courtesy 205th Corps Public Affairs

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Afghan government will investigate a series of U.S. airstrikes that apparently killed eight people over the weekend, the Interior Ministry said Tuesday.

A committee has been appointed to lead the investigation, the ministry said in a statement. A spokesman said the names of the committee members were being withheld for security reasons, as they will be traveling to the embattled province of Uruzgan where the strikes occurred.

Two strikes were carried out Sunday in response to an “immediate threat,” Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland, spokesman for the NATO-led Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, said in a statement Monday.

U.S. forces, in coordination with Afghans, called in the air raids in self-defense against “individuals firing on, and posing a threat to, our Afghan partners,” Cleveland had said, but it was unclear who the individuals were or why they were firing on the Afghans.

Local highway police commander Haji Rahimullah said the attacks hit a police checkpoint on the main highway near Uruzgan’s provincial capital of Tirin Kot, killing a police officer in the first strike and, in a second run, at least seven more officers who responded to the scene.

Some reports Monday said the people killed were reserve police officers in civilian clothing carrying weapons, which may have been why they were struck.

The Interior Ministry statement said eight people had been killed, but it did not say they were police. The ministry spokesman said more details on the strikes would be released after its investigation was completed, including the names of the committee members and whether all eight killed were police officers.

Afghan forces have primary responsibility for their country’s security in the fight against the 15-year Taliban insurgency, but U.S forces are authorized to conduct strikes to prevent strategic losses as well as to protect the Afghans and their allies, such as international advisers.

U.S. officials in Kabul did not have any further comment Tuesday. </s> LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed seven people and wounded 20 others outside a bank in the capital city of Afghanistan’s Helmand province on Saturday, the governor’s office said on Saturday.

The bomber detonated an explosives-packed car next to an Afghan army vehicle as soldiers arrived at a bank in Lashkar Gah to collect their pay, the Helmand governor’s spokesman, Omar Zwak, said.

Among the dead were four civilians and three soldiers. Sixteen civilians and four soldiers were wounded, he said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the Taliban have seized large areas of Helmand and have often threatened Lashkar Gah.

Hundreds of international troops are stationed in Helmand as part of the NATO-led effort to train and support Afghan security forces, which have struggled to contain a growing insurgency.

At least one American special forces soldier was wounded in fighting there this week.

To the north of Lashkar Gah, a local official said that an American military air strike killed a number of civilians in a recent bombing in Sangin district.

The allegation has not been independently verified.

U.S. military spokesman Captain Bill Salvin said that U.S. jets had conducted strikes in Sangin in the past few weeks.

While U.S. forces had “no evidence that civilians were killed in these strikes”, Salvin said the command would investigate the claims.

“We take every precaution to prevent and mitigate civilian casualties and we take every allegation seriously.” </s> KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan police official says at least 14 people have been killed in a suicide car bombing in the capital of southern Helmand province.

Haji Marjan says the attack happened on Monday in the city of Lashkar Gah. He says 10 police officers and four civilians were killed but warned that the death toll is likely to rise as it is unclear how many people remain unaccounted for after the explosion.

Lashkar Gah has been under attack by Taliban militants who officials said had entered the city earlier in the day.

The Taliban have been on the outskirts of the city for months, as part of their march across Helmand, where most of the word’s opium is produced.
Afghan officials say yesterday's U.S. airstrikes killed up to eight Afghan policemen in Lashkar Gah, Uruzgan.