US airstrike in Helmand killed 23 civilians, UN says

At least 23 civilians, most of them women and children, have been killed in a US airstrike in Afghanistan’s southern province of Helmand, the UN says.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) pointed to a sharp increase in civilian casualties from the air operations in a Friday statement, emphasizing that it was particularly concerned about the high number of children impacted by the bombardment.

“Initial findings indicate that the vast majority of the victims were women and children,” said the statement following its probe of the attack on suspected Taliban targets.

“The Mission is actively working to verify information indicating up to 10 children were killed along with eight women, and three children were injured, including an eight-year-old boy,” added the UNAMA statement.

Local residents insist that at least 30 people were killed as the result of the air strike, which was carried out amid a surge in US-led air operations as the US military claims to have adopted a more aggressive approach in its bid to force Taliban militants to “peace” talks.

This is while the US military claims that it is also conducting its own investigation of the airstrike on Tuesday in which a helicopter hit a compound during a joint operation with American and Afghan forces in Garmsir district of the province.

Elsewhere in Helmand, explosive ordnance struck residential units during clashes between the Taliban militants and Afghan security forces days ago, killing two civilians and injuring at least 14 others, including 10 children. According to the UN, those clashes occurred in the Nad-e-Ali district.

The clashes broke out after the Taliban militants reportedly entrenched in the vicinity of civilian homes launched an attack on an Afghan National Army convoy.

Pointing to the two incidents, UNAMA expressed major concern regarding the number of children that were disproportionately affected, comprising 55 percent of the civilian casualties.

SS