A Nato air attack in eastern Afghanistan killed 11 children, officials said on Sunday, the latest case of civilian casualties which provoke great anger in the war-torn country.
The children were killed during a joint Afghan-Nato operation in the Shigal district of restive Kunar province bordering Pakistan late on Saturday.
The latest strike comes after at least five Americans, including a young woman diplomat, were killed in two Taliban attacks in the country’s east and south.
An Afghan official involved in the operation said the force did not know there were women and children in the houses that were hit.
Civilian casualties caused by Nato forces have been one of the most contentious issues in the 11-year campaign against Taliban insurgents, provoking harsh criticism from Afghan President Hamid Karzai and angry public protests.
“Eleven children and eight militants were killed in the strike, six women were wounded,” said Wasifullah Wasifi, the spokesman for Kunar province.
Shigal district governor Abdul Zahir confirmed the death toll. He said people had brought the children’s bodies to the centre of the town and the wounded women were taken to Kunar’s central hospital.
Diplomat killed
On Saturday, a suicide car bomber struck a Nato convoy in the southern province of Zabul, killing three US soldiers and two civilians, one of whom was a female US diplomat.
The Washington Post identified the diplomat as Anne Smedinghoff, 25, citing her parents. Smedinghoff was US Secretary of State John Kerry Kerry’s embassy guide and aide when he visited Afghanistan last month.
They were travelling with Afghan officials to distribute books to students.