US airstrikes kill 8 police officers in Afghanistan

At least eight police officers have been killed in US airstrikes in Afghanistan’s embattled central province of Uruzgan, officials say.

A military commander said Monday one officer was killed in an initial airstrike targeting police checkpoint in the Saki area of Tirin Kot while seven others were killed in a follow-up strike.

Uruzgan deputy police chief Mohammed Qawi Omari put the death toll at six but said the police were killed by a foreign airstrike. Afghan officials said they were investigating the attack.

The US military command in Kabul confirmed that its warplanes had conducted an airstrike in the area, but said they targeted individuals firing on, and posing a threat to security forces.

The Taliban militant group also said a number of policemen had been killed in American raids in Tirin Kot.

According to provincial officials, Taliban militants briefly entered Tirin Kot in early September before being pushed back by security forces.

SS