Afghan children killed in air raid

Afghan children killed in air raid

The area in which the strike occurred is said to be heavily populated by Taliban [File: Getty Images] At least 10 Afghan civilians, mostly school children, have been killed in an air raid by Nato-led forces in the east of the country, the office of Hamid Karzai, the president, has said. The incident reportedly occurred on Sunday in a remote part of Kunar province on the border with Pakistan, the statement added. "It is a very rugged area, we cannot go there because of the presence of the Taliban," Sayed Fazlullah Wahedi, the Kunar state governor, said on Monday. "Elders of the village have told us that 10 people have been killed in this air strike, eight of them school students," Wahedi said. Karzai's office said that it would hold an investigation into the incident. Nato-led forces, who are fighting Taliban and al-Qaeda forces in the country, said they would also look into the incident. International forces have been in Afghanistan since a 2001 invasion by the US to remove the Taliban from power. Civilian deaths due to intermittent air raids conducted by Western forces have enraged ordinary Afghans and made their military operation hugely unpopular. Although United Nations figures show far more civilians are killed by the Taliban, deaths at the hands of foreigners spark wide resentment and undermine international forces' attempts to weaken the Taliban by building trust among the peaceful population. Karzai has also repeatedly condemned civilian casualties in the past, but missile strikes at suspected hideouts of Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters continue at regular intervals.

Source: Agencies