Civilians killed in airstrike, mortar attack

KABUL (Tolo News): A provincial council member in Maidan Wardak, Sharifullah Hotak, said that civilians were killed in a mortar attack on a house in Sayed Abad district and an airstrike in Jalriz district in the province.

“At least eight members of one family were killed in an airstrike in Zorlang village in Jalriz district,” Hotak said. “In another incident in Sayed Abad district, four members of one family were killed and three more were wounded when a mortar hit their house.” Former president Hamid Karzai in a statement condemned civilian casualties in the two incidents and reiterated his call to warring parties to end violence and use the current opportunity for peace.

Analysts said that violence has increased following the announcement of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. The Ministry of Interior Affairs claims that 63 civilians were killed and 180 more were wounded in Taliban blasts and suicide bombings in the last 11 days.

Data collected by TOLOnews shows that 112 security force members were killed and 76 more were wounded in the same period. Meanwhile, sources said that Abdul Waris, commander of a security forces unit, was killed in an explosion in Maiwand district of Kandahar province.

Sources said that Abdul Basir Achakzai, the police chief for Kandahar’s Zherai district, was wounded in the blast. Also, four people, including a security officer for Gulran district, two security force members and former district governor for Gulran, Abdul Ghani Noori, were killed in a roadside bomb explosion in the district this evening, the provincial governor Waheed Qatali said.