LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - At least 30 Afghan civilians were killed in U.S. air strikes in the Afghan province of Helmand, officials and residents of the area said on Wednesday, the latest casualties from a surge in air operations aimed at driving the Taliban into talks.

An Afghan boy receives treatment at a hospital after an airstrike in Helmand province, Afghanistan November 28, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer

Afghanistan’s NATO-led force said Afghan government forces and U.S. advisers came under fire from Taliban fighters in a compound in Garmsir district and called in an air strike, but the ground forces were not aware of any civilians in or near the compound.

Helmand provincial governor Mohammad Yasin Khan said troops had called in air strikes against Taliban fighters in Garmsir, causing both civilian and Taliban casualties.

A resident of the area called Mohammadullah said the clash began late on Tuesday.

“Foreign forces bombed the area and the bombs hit my brother’s house,” he said.

He said women and 16 children were among the dead.

Another resident, Feda Mohammad, said some victims were still buried in the rubble of the compound.

“The area is under the control of Taliban but all of the victims of last night’s bombing are civilians,” he said.

The NATO-led Resolute Support forces said Afghan forces and U.S. advisers came under fire from Taliban equipped with machines guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

“At the time of the strike, the ground force was unaware of any civilians in or around the compound; they only knew that the Taliban was using the building as a fighting position,” a force spokeswoman said in a statement.

“We investigate every credible allegation of error and review every mission to learn, adapt and improve,” she said.

The deaths are the latest in a growing civilian casualty toll caused by air strikes and underline the severity of the Afghan war even as moves to begin peace talks have picked up with contacts between U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban representatives.

The United Nations said last month the number of civilian casualties from air strikes in the first nine months of the year was already higher than in any entire year since at least 2009.

The increase has come together with a sharp jump in the number of air operations under a U.S. strategy aimed at stepping up pressure on the Taliban to force them to accept a negotiated end to the 17-year war.

According to figures from the U.S. military, U.S. aircraft had released 5,213 weapons by the end of September, up from 4,361 for the entire 2017 and the highest number since 2011 when there were more than 100,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. </s> Rahim Faiez and Robert Burns, The Associated Press 

 



KABUL -- Taliban insurgents staged a co-ordinated attack targeting a security firm in the Afghan capital on Wednesday, killing at least 10 people and wounding 19 others, as the U.S. said an airstrike hours earlier in Helmand province that reportedly killed civilians was conducted by American aircraft.

Wednesday's attack in eastern Kabul took place when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives and other insurgents started a gun battle with security forces in the area, Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said.

The assault came hours after provincial officials said at least 30 civilians were killed along with 16 Taliban fighters during the overnight battle between Afghan government forces and insurgents in southern Helmand province.

A local official, Attahullah Afghan, said most of the civilian casualties -- which included men, women and children -- came when an airstrike struck a house in the central Helmand River valley, a Taliban heartland. U.S. officials said it happened in Helmand's Garmsir district.

A U.S. military spokesman in Kabul said the airstrike was carried out by American aircraft called in to back Afghan "special security forces" after they came under heavy Taliban fire.

Maj. Bariki Mallya, the spokesman, said in an email exchange that the airstrike was conducted in self-defence after Taliban fighters armed with rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine-guns retreated into a compound and continued firing on Afghan government forces and their American advisers.

"In self-defence, the ground force called an airstrike," Mallya said. "After the strike, there were secondary explosions, we assess from explosives inside the compound. At the time of the strike, the ground force was unaware of any civilians in or around the compound; they only knew that the Taliban were using the building as a fighting position."

Mallya declined to say what the U.S. knew about civilian casualties or whether the incident was under U.S. investigation. In a prepared statement, he said the U.S. investigates every "credible allegation of error and reviews every mission to learn, adapt and improve."

A statement from the governor's office in Helmand confirmed that 16 Taliban insurgents were killed and said that an investigation was underway to determine the number of civilian casualties.

It said the militants had stockpiled ammunition in the area of the operation, which could have caused civilian casualties. There was also a car packed with explosives that ignited during the strike, the statement added.

Abdul Wadod Popul, a lawmaker from Helmand, also confirmed the civilian casualties. "The area is under Taliban's control and is very difficult to get a precise number of casualties," he said in Kabul.

The resurgent Taliban, who in recent years have taken over nearly half of Afghanistan, claimed the attack Wednesday in Kabul.

Kabul police spokesman Basir Mujahid said the target of the attack was a security company called G4S. He had no details on the company, but the website of a multinational security company named G4S has London contact information.

The attacks were the latest in a series of brutal and near-daily Taliban assaults on military and police forces and government and other installations throughout the country.

The Taliban view the U.S.-backed government in Kabul as a dysfunctional Western puppet and have refused repeated offers to negotiate with it. They carry out near-daily attacks on Afghan security forces.

U.S. and NATO troops formally concluded their combat mission in Afghanistan in 2014, but still provide close support to Afghan forces and carry out counterterrorism operations. Some 15,000 American forces are currently serving in Afghanistan.

The fighting came as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was in Geneva, attending a two-day U.N.-backed conference that ends Wednesday and that is focused on development, security and peace efforts in the war-battered country.

Burns reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Amir Shah in Kabul contributed to this report. </s> KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban insurgents staged a coordinated attack targeting a security firm in the Afghan capital on Wednesday, killing at least 10 people and wounding 19 others, as the U.S. said an airstrike hours earlier in Helmand province that reportedly killed civilians was conducted by American aircraft.

Wednesday's attack in eastern Kabul took place when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives and other insurgents started a gun battle with security forces in the area, Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said.

The assault came hours after provincial officials said at least 30 civilians were killed along with 16 Taliban fighters during the overnight battle between Afghan government forces and insurgents in southern Helmand province.

A local official, Attahullah Afghan, said most of the civilian casualties — which included men, women and children — came when an airstrike struck a house in the central Helmand River valley, a Taliban heartland. U.S. officials said it happened in Helmand's Garmsir district.

A U.S. military spokesman in Kabul said the airstrike was carried out by American aircraft called in to back Afghan "special security forces" after they came under heavy Taliban fire.

Maj. Bariki Mallya, the spokesman, said in an email exchange that the airstrike was conducted in self-defense after Taliban fighters armed with rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns retreated into a compound and continued firing on Afghan government forces and their American advisers.

"In self-defense, the ground force called an airstrike," Mallya said. "After the strike, there were secondary explosions, we assess from explosives inside the compound. At the time of the strike, the ground force was unaware of any civilians in or around the compound; they only knew that the Taliban were using the building as a fighting position."

Mallya declined to say what the U.S. knew about civilian casualties or whether the incident was under U.S. investigation. In a prepared statement, he said the U.S. investigates every "credible allegation of error and reviews every mission to learn, adapt and improve."

A statement from the governor's office in Helmand confirmed that 16 Taliban insurgents were killed and said that an investigation was underway to determine the number of civilian casualties.

It said the militants had stockpiled ammunition in the area of the operation, which could have caused civilian casualties. There was also a car packed with explosives that ignited during the strike, the statement added.

Abdul Wadod Popul, a lawmaker from Helmand, also confirmed the civilian casualties. "The area is under Taliban's control and is very difficult to get a precise number of casualties," he said in Kabul.

The resurgent Taliban, who in recent years have taken over nearly half of Afghanistan, claimed the attack Wednesday in Kabul.

Kabul police spokesman Basir Mujahid said the target of the attack was a security company called G4S. He had no details on the company, but the website of a multinational security company named G4S has London contact information.

The attacks were the latest in a series of brutal and near-daily Taliban assaults on military and police forces and government and other installations throughout the country.

The Taliban view the U.S.-backed government in Kabul as a dysfunctional Western puppet and have refused repeated offers to negotiate with it. They carry out near-daily attacks on Afghan security forces.

U.S. and NATO troops formally concluded their combat mission in Afghanistan in 2014, but still provide close support to Afghan forces and carry out counterterrorism operations. Some 15,000 American forces are currently serving in Afghanistan.

The fighting came as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was in Geneva, attending a two-day U.N.-backed conference that ends Wednesday and that is focused on development, security and peace efforts in the war-battered country.

Burns reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Amir Shah in Kabul contributed to this report. </s> The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has raised serious concerns over coalition air strikes in Helmand province and said that at least 18 civilians may have been killed in the raids. American military officials confirmed that they had carried out at least 30 air strikes in the province last week.

Brigadier General Charles Cleveland, the spokesperson for the international coalition said, "We are investigating the allegations and working diligently to determine whether civilians were killed or injured as a result of US air strikes."

However, it is unclear whether the civilians were killed in US authorised air strikes.

On Sunday (12 February), the UN said in a statement: "On 9 and 10 February, international military forces conducted airstrikes in Helmand's Sangin district reportedly targeting anti-government elements. [The UN's] initial enquiries suggest that the airstrikes killed at least 18 civilians, nearly all women and children."

Escalating violence in the region has been causing concerns and according to the UN, civilian casualties have increased drastically over the past week. At least seven civilians were killed by an alleged Taliban suicide bomber in an attack in Lashkar Gah on 11 February.

Najeeb Danesh, the spokesperson for Afghanistan's defence ministry said that a delegation from the ministry was probing the issue.

Family members of the victims at a hospital in the province's capital Lashkar Gah have demanded an explanation over the air strikes. "How could women and children be Taliban?" a resident of Sangin district identified only as Majnoon was quoted as saying by Reuters. He added that 11 people were killed at his brother's house in an air raid on 9 February.

Another resident Haji Ahmand told the Guardian: "What the Americans are doing in Helmand is not right. They target the locals instead of [the] Taliban. The Taliban are far from my brother's house. We would prefer if the Americans would just leave us alone."

Hundreds of troops have been deployed in Helmand province by Nato to help Afghan forces in their battle against the Taliban. Additional support is provided by the US Special Forces. </s> The United Nations confirmed Monday that ten children were among at least 13 civilians killed by a recent American military airstrike in northern Afghanistan.

The deadly attack occurred early Saturday near the capital city of volatile Kunduz province where Afghan and U.S. forces were conducting a joint operation against Taliban insurgents.

The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) lamented the deaths while releasing preliminary findings of its investigation into the incident. It said work is ongoing to verify other reports of civilian casualties that occurred around the time of the airstrike.

“The Mission expresses serious concern that initial fact-finding indicates that 10 of those killed were children, part of the same extended family whom were displaced by fighting elsewhere in the country,” said UNAMA.

Officials and residents around the conflict zone said that insurgents had strongly resisted the joint Afghan-U.S. military raid in the Taliban-held Telawka neighborhood. The ensuing clashes killed two American soldiers and several local commando forces, prompting the U.S. military to launch the airstrike in support of forces on the ground.

U.S. officials confirmed the killing of two service members and carrying out an airstrike in the area, accusing the Taliban of using civilian areas as hideouts.

UNAMA urged parties involved in the airstrike to conduct their own enquiries into the incident and take immediate steps to safeguard civilians from harm. “Parties are urged to publish results of their findings, as well as provide appropriate compensation to victims.”

Civilians continue to bear the brunt of the 18-year-old war in Afghanistan. The armed conflict last year killed more than 3,800 civilians, including 927 children, the highest number of civilian deaths recorded in the past ten years, according to UNAMA.

The mission documented a sharp increase in civilian casualties in 2018 from aerial and search operations conducted by Afghan and U.S. militaries, blaming pro-government forces for an unprecedented 24 percent overall increase in civilian casualties.

Battlefield hostilities in Afghanistan have sharply increased with the advent of spring. The Taliban has inflicted heavy casualties on government forces in several provinces over the past few days.

The deadliest of the attacks occurred early Saturday in Sangin district of the southern Helmand province, killing at least 65 Afghan forces, including 48 military personnel.

The intensification in the war comes as Taliban and U.S. officials are due to reconvene soon to build on the progress they have achieved in recent negotiations to try to find a political resolution of the war. </s> KABUL (Reuters) - Ten children, part of the same extended family, were killed by a U.S. air strike in Afghanistan, along with three adult civilians, the United Nations said on Monday.

The air strike early on Saturday was part of a battle between the Taliban and combined Afghan and U.S. forces that lasted about 30 hours in Kunduz, a northern province where the Taliban insurgency is strong.

The children and their family had been displaced by fighting elsewhere in the country, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said, releasing its preliminary findings about the incident. UNAMA said in a statement that it is verifying that all 13 civilian casualties occurred around the time of the air strike.

Three other civilians were wounded. The incident happened in the Telawka neighborhood near Kunduz city.

Sgt. Debra Richardson, spokeswoman for the NATO-led Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, confirmed that U.S. forces carried out an air strike, but she said on Monday that the mission still had not confirmed that it had caused civilian casualties.

She said the mission aims to prevent civilian casualties, while the Taliban intentionally hides among civilians.

A record number of Afghan civilians were killed last year as aerial attacks and suicide bombings increased, the United Nations said in a February report. Child casualties from air strikes have increased every year since 2014.

Fighting has accelerated during a period of recurring talks between U.S. and Taliban officials aimed at ending Afghanistan’s 17-year war. </s> KABUL: At least 18 civilians were killed last week in air strikes by international forces in Afghanistan's Helmand province, an initial United Nations inquiry has concluded.

American military officials say their aircraft have conducted around 30 air strikes in Helmand in the past week. A spokesman said they were looking into the inquiry.

"We are investigating the allegations and working diligently to determine whether civilians were killed or injured as a result of US air strikes," said Brigadier General Charles Cleveland.

The NATO-led military mission has deployed hundreds of troops to Helmand in a bid to help Afghan security forces in their war against Taliban insurgents.

American aircraft and special forces have also provided combat support, with at least one US soldier wounded in recent fighting.

On Thursday and Friday air strikes in Helmand's Sangin district killed as many as 18 civilians, mostly women and children, according to a UN statement released on Sunday.

The UN said the strikes had been conducted by "international military forces," but only US aircraft have been involved in recent coalition strikes, according to military officials.

Family members of victims at the regional hospital in Helmand's capital, Lashkar Gah, demanded explanations.

"How could women and children be Taliban?" Majnoon, a resident of Sangin, who said 11 people were killed in his brother's house in a strike on Thursday, told Reuters.

Mullah Qasem, a local leader in Sangin, said the government wanted justice for the families of the victims.

The UN said a Taliban suicide bomber also killed at least seven civilians in an attack in Lashkar Gah on Saturday.

"(The UN) reiterates the need for all parties to the conflict to strictly adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law to take all feasible measures to protect civilians from harm," the statement said.

Civilian casualties from both American and Afghan air strikes increased dramatically last year, according to the UN's most recent report on threats to civilians. </s> UN inquiry concludes air strikes in Helmand's Sangin district killed at least 18 civilians, mostly women and children.

Civilians, mostly women and children, were killed last week in air raids by NATO forces in Afghanistan's Helmand province, an initial United Nations inquiry suggested.

On Thursday and Friday as many as 18 civilians died in air strikes in Helmand's Sangin district, according to a UN statement released on Sunday.

The UN said the strikes had been conducted by "international military forces," but only US aircraft have been involved in recent coalition strikes, according to US military officials.

Other US military officials said their aircraft have conducted around 30 air raids in Helmand in the past week. NATO's Resolute Support mission has initiated an inquiry into the incident.

"We are investigating the allegations and working diligently to determine whether civilians were killed or injured as a result of US air strikes," Brigadier General Charles Cleveland, a US army spokesman in Afghanistan, said in a statement.

READ MORE: UN to probe US air raid that killed women and children

But Afghan officials and local residents have given a different toll of 22 civilians killed during the joint operation carried out by US and Afghan forces.

The presidential envoy for security in Helmand, Jabar Qahraman, said the raid against Taliban fighters in the Sangin district killed 13 people from one family and nine from another.

The NATO-led military mission has deployed hundreds of troops to Helmand in a bid to help Afghan security forces in their war against Taliban fighters.

Civilian casualties from both American and Afghan air strikes increased dramatically last year, according to the UN's most recent report on threats to civilians.

At least 891 civlians were killed or injured in 2016, a figure highest in areas outside of Kabul. </s> KABUL: At least 18 civilians were killed last week in airstrikes by international forces in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, an initial United Nations inquiry has concluded.

American military officials say their aircraft have conducted around 30 air strikes in Helmand in the past week. A spokesman said they were looking into the inquiry. "We are investigating the allegations and working diligently to determine whether civilians were killed or injured as a result of US airstrikes," said Brigadier General Charles Cleveland.

The Nato-led military mission has deployed hundreds of troops to Helmand in a bid to help Afghan security forces in their war against Taliban insurgents. American aircraft and special forces have also provided combat support, with at least one US soldier wounded in recent fighting. On Thursday and Friday air strikes in Helmand’s Sangin district killed as many as 18 civilians, mostly women and children, according to a UN statement released on Sunday.

The UN said the strikes had been conducted by "international military forces," but only US aircraft have been involved in recent coalition strikes, according to military officials. Family members of victims at the regional hospital in Helmand’s capital, Lashkar Gah, demanded explanations. "How could women and children be Taliban?" Majnoon, a resident of Sangin, who said 11 people were killed in his brother´s house in a strike on Thursday, told Reuters.

Mullah Qasem, a local leader in Sangin, said the government wanted justice for the families of the victims. The UN said a Taliban suicide bomber also killed at least seven civilians in an attack in Lashkar Gah on Saturday. Civilian casualties from both American and Afghan air strikes increased dramatically last year, according to the UN’s most recent report on threats to civilians.

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A series of U.S. airstrikes kills at least 30 Afghan civilians, including 16 children, in Garmsir District, Helmand Province. Additional civilians were left wounded or buried in the rubble. The target of the strikes was a suspected Taliban compound. The United States' strategy aims to push the Taliban into talks.