US Drone Strike in Afghanistan bordering Pakistan kills civilians, NATO denies
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KABUL - The US Forces in Afghanistan rejected the reports suggesting that a drone strike in eastern Nuristan province has left at least eleven people dead, including six civilians.
Lt. Col. Martin O’Donnell, U.S. Forces-Afghanistan spokesman, said “U.S. forces did not conduct a strike in Nuristan province on Monday night. We have, however, received reports of insurgent-caused civilian casualties in two separate insurgent attacks in eastern Afghanistan, Monday – a mortar attack on a medical clinic in Andar district, Ghazni province that killed a pharmacist and injured clinic staff, and a suicide attack that targeted a gathering of local police and civilians in Sawkai (Chawkay) district, Kunar province, killing and injuring an unknown number of both.
These deplorable acts by the enemies of Afghanistan further demonstrate their disregard for the Afghan people, whose calls for peace and an extension to the cease-fire were rejected yesterday by the Taliban.”
This comes as provincial governor Hafiz Abdul Qayum had earlier told The Associated Press that the US forces in Afghanistan conducted an airstrike using unmanned aerial vehicles in Waygal district.
Qayum further added that the airstrike targeted a house where a number of Taliban militants and local residents had gathered to visit a Taliban group member who was wounded in a separate attack.
According to Qayum, at least six civilians and five Taliban insurgents were killed in the Monday night airstrike in Waygal district.
Nuristan is among the relatively volatile provinces in East of Afghanistan where Taliban and militants belonging to the other groups are actively operating in some of its remote districts and often carry out terrorist related activities.
The latest airstrike in Nuristan province has been carried out amid ongoing operations to suppress the activities of the militant and terrorist groups in the country.
