By Khan Wali Salarzai
Eleven civilians have been killed and 12 others wounded, including children and women, during a joint operation and a foreign forces airstrike in eastern Kunar province, the governor said on Wednesday.
Shujaul Mulk Jalala told Pajhwok Afghan News that the operation had been underway since Tuesday in the Badbel Dara area of Narang district. A raid conducted by coalition forces also caused civilian casualties.
PAN, Apr. 22, 2011: Three road workers were killed during an airstrike by foreign troops in the southeastern province of Khost, a private construction company official said on Friday. A fourth worker was wounded during the overnight air raid by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the Sperai district, Faqir Mohammad Zadran told Pajhwok Afghan News. (Photo: PAN)
Eleven civilians were confirmed dead and 12 others wounded in the air assault, the governor claimed. Among the wounded, five were men, three women and the rest children.
Hard to access, Narang district has been in the grip of lawlessness in recent months, he noted, saying two militants had also been killed in the raid.
Dr. Farooq Sahak, Kunar Civil Hospital director, confirmed receiving eight injured people, three of them women. One of the critically wounded persons died at the hospital, he added.
Momin Khan, a resident of the area, said the locality was inaccessible, forcing foreign forces to conduct airstrikes, which caused civilian casualties. Fourteen civilians had been killed and 13 others wounded, including children and women, he added.
Meanwhile, the Taliban also alleged more than 10 civilians were killed in the Narang offensive.
However, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said: “A Coalition precision strike resulted in the death of one armed enemy combatant during an operation in Dangam district on Tuesday.”
It said that no civilian casualties or damage to structures occurred during the operation, or any recent reports of civilian casualties in Coalition operation in Kunar.
Maj. Paul L. Greenberg of the US Marine Corps said a second operation was conducted on the same night in Narang district. “We are currently looking into the circumstances of that operation."