KABUL – Fourteen civilians were killed in an explosion in northernAfghanistan although it isn’t immediately clear whether the deaths werecaused by a ground assault or an air strike.
Nematullah Temory, the provincial governor’s spokesman, said the explosionoccurred on Thursday in the Charhar Dara district of Kunduz and women andchildren were among the dead.
The Taliban in a statement to news outlets said 27 people were killed inthe area on Thursday and spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid blamed the dead on USair strikes.
The US did carry out air strikes in the area “in support of Afghan-ledground operations,” according to Nato spokesman Lt. Colonel MartinO’Donnell.
“On-the-ground assessment of those strikes reveals no indications theycaused civilian casualties,” he said in an e-mail.
The United States is unlikely to make any big shift in military strategy asa result of an ongoing assessment of the war effort in Afghanistan, the topUS general overseeing forces in the region said on Thursday.
It was reported on July 10 that the United States was preparing toundertake a strategy review, a year after President Donald Trumpbegrudgingly agreed to extend America’s involvement in the conflict.
US Army General Joseph Votel portrayed it more as a regular assessment thana wholesale review and suggested that he expected it would confirmprogress, however uneven, in the nearly 17-year-old war.
“I don’t envision something … that would likely lead to a major change inthe overall strategy, which I believe is showing progress,” Votel told anews briefing.
Officials said Trump has shown signs of frustration over the lack ofprogress since he unveiled a strategy last August that committed to anopen-ended deployment of US military advisers, trainers and special forcesand increased air support for Afghan security forces. The stated US goal isto push the Taliban militants to work toward a peace agreement with theKabul government.
Trump was opposed to remaining in America’s longest war, but was convincedby his advisers to press ahead. He authorised last year the deployment ofan additional 3,000 US troops, bringing the total to around 15,000.
Trump has also piled pressure on neighbouring Pakistan to crack down onmilitant safe havens on its side of the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Votel said he had seen positive signs from Islamabad but stressed that hewanted to see Pakistan put more pressure on Pakistan-based militantsfighting in Afghanistan, including by arresting, expelling or targetingthem.
He also noted the key role Washington wants Islamabad to play in promotingdialogue in Afghanistan.
“We also need to see them continue to make efforts to compel the Taliban tocome to the table and take advantage of these opportunities,” Votel said