KABUL: Military raid has killed at least 12 people including children, 14injured in an attack near the northeastern province of Takhar, provincialofficials said.
The strike on a village in northeastern Takhar province on Wednesday cameas Afghan security forces clashed with suspected Taliban militants,Provincial spokesperson Khalil Aseer.
The airstrike was carried out when the victims were busy studying the HolyQuran, a prayer leader was also killed, he added.
But the ministry of defence — who confirmed the strike was carried out bythe Afghan air force — denied civilians had died. Twelve Taliban includingseveral of their commanders were killed, it said.
Afghanistan’s Vice President Amrullah Saleh also states the death of thechildren as ‘baseless’ accusation, those who spread rumours will be dealtwith, he warned by writing a note on social media site.
The ministry of defence said it had appointed a team to probe.
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Taliban in a statement said The enemy bombarded the mosque at a time whenchildren were busy in religious studies, airstrike had destroyed the mosque.
Despite joining peace talks with the government in Qatar last month, theTaliban have only increased violence in a bid to wield leverage in thenegotiations.
The US envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, said earlier this week thatfighting is threatening the peace process.
