Kabul, July 17: US war planes have killed and injured dozens of civilians in southern Afghanistan in attempted bombings of suspected Taliban militant hideouts.
The latest incident happened overnight in southern Kandahar province.
Residents in Shah Wali Kot said up to six people were killed and 16 wounded in the air attack in the district.
Another two people were reportedly killed and four others were wounded in neighboring Miawand district when US helicopters fired missiles in the region.
Medical sources in the region said the death toll could rise as some of those injured were in serious condition.
Television footage showed a number of the wounded, including children, being treated at a hospital in Kandahar.
Captain Elizabeth Mathias, a US military spokeswoman in Kabul confirmed the lethal attacks, but refused to provide further details.
“We are aware an event happened in Kandahar. We have forces down there and they were engaged but I don’t know the specifics,” she said.
The Kabul government has sent a fact finding mission to the site to find the exact number of civilians killed in the bombardment.
This is not the first violent US attack on civilians in Afghanistan. More than 140 Afghan civilians were killed in a series of US airstrikes in the western Farah province in early May.
Additionally, some 1,000 civilians have lost their lives in the past five months during clashes between US-led troops and insurgents affiliated with the Taliban.
US bombing campaigns have drawn sharp criticism from Afghans and the government of President Hamid Karzai.
–Agencies–