NATO air strike kills 25 Afghan civilians

Press TV
Thursday June 21, 2007

At least twenty-five Afghan civilians, including nine women and three young children have been slain in a NATO air strike in southern Afghanistan.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed its troops called in air support after being attacked in Helmand province on Friday, and said it was investigating reports of a "small number" of civilian casualties.

Provincial police chief Colonel Mohammad Hassan told AFP that the bombing came after Taliban fighters attacked an ISAF convoy from among houses and gardens in a village.

About 20 Taliban were also reported killed in the strike shortly after midnight, he said.

"The NATO forces' air strike on the area mistakenly targeted two to three civilian houses, killing 25 civilians," Hassan said.

Human Rights Watch says around 1,000 civilians were killed in insurgency-linked violence in Afghanistan last year, about 230 of them in military action.