Monitoring Desk
KABUL: Thirteen civilians were killed as a result of airstrikes in Andar district in Ghazni province on Tuesday, local residents said.
The foreign forces fired a missile on a vehicle of Taliban in Andar district Tuesday, Ghazni governor’s spokesman Arif Noori told Afghan Islamic Press (AIP).
Seven gunmen were killed in the blitz, he said. The dead included a Taliban commander identified as Sarhadi, he added. After the airstrike, he said other Taliban fighters and some local residents came to the site. These Taliban gunmen were targeted in another blitz, he added.
Resultantly, he said three Taliban fighters were killed and three civilians were injured. The security forces had authentic video of the airstrikes, he said. The video shows that Taliban commander Sarhadi and other gunmen were on board the vehicle, he added.
Meanwhile, a press release issued by Ghazni police headquarters stated that the aircraft of foreign forces targeted Taliban in Lewan wa Gorian area in Andar district at around 9 am Tuesday. Eight Taliban gunmen suffered casualties in the blitz, the press release said.
Seven Taliban gunmen including a commander identified as Sarhadi were killed and another sustained injuries in the airstrike, the press release said. The press release stated that they had not received reports about civilian casualties in the airstrike so far.
In the meantime, a press release issued by 203 Tandar military corps headquarters stated that seven Taliban gunmen including a commander identified as Sarhadi were killed in the airstrike. However, residents of Ghazni said that all the people killed and injured in the blitz were civilians.
A local resident of Ghazni, Rahmanullah said a vehicle carrying passengers from Andar to Ghazni city was targeted in the airstrike.
Fifteen civilians were killed and injured in the blitz, he said. The local residents took the bodies of deceased people to Ghazni city to register protest, he maintained.
The enraged protestors demanded punishment for the officials involved in the incident, he said. The security forces have reached to the area where people had staged protest, he added. However, officials have not met them so far, he lamented. The Kabul-Kandahar highway was also closed for traffic due to protest demonstration, he explained.
Meanwhile, Taliban said eighteen civilians were killed and injured in the airstrikes.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said eight civilians were killed when a vehicle carrying civilians was targeted in airstrike in Sher Kala area in Andar district.
When local residents arrived on the site to retrieve the dead and injured people, he said another missile was fired from the aircraft. Resultantly, he added that four more civilians were killed and six others injured. (AIP)
