The military is investigating claims that a U. S. airstrike in southern Afghanistan killed dozens of civilians, including children and elderly people, officials said Wednesday.
KABUL, Afghanistan — The military is investigating claims that a U. S. airstrike in southern Afghanistan killed dozens of civilians, including children and elderly people, officials said Wednesday.
Military officials in Kabul confirmed that U. S. aircraft conducted a strike in Helmand province’s Garmsir district on Tuesday as Afghan special forces and their U. S. advisers battled Taliban fighters. Officials were still trying on Wednesday to determine whether civilians were among the dead, a military statement said.
If proven, the deaths would add to a spike in civilian casualties caused by airstrikes. A rise in civilian deaths documented by the United Nations this year has corresponded with a surge in U. S. bombings.
Tuesday’s fatalities included children and the elderly, said Abdul Wadoud, a Helmand lawmaker. “Some of the bodies are unrecognizable,” he said in a phone interview.
The strike was carried out against an insurgent position after Afghan and U. S. ground troops came under heavy machine gun and rocket-propelled grenade fire from a compound in the area, the military said.
“At the time of the strike, the ground force was unaware of any civilians in or around the compound,” the military statement said. “They only knew that the Taliban was using the building as a fighting position.
