A misdirected American airstrike killed at least seven Afghan police officers in the hard-pressed southern province of Oruzgan, Afghan officials said on Monday.
(NewYorkTimes)- Taliban insurgents have taken control of much of the province and have been besieging its capital, Tirin Kot, for weeks, held off mainly by the American air support for Afghan security forces.
On Sunday around noon, a police post known as Saqi, on the main highway into Tirin Kot, was under assault, and an airstrike hit the post instead of the attackers, said Abdul Qawe Omari, the deputy police chief for the province.
“It was hit mistakenly and due to wrong directions or coordinates being given,” Mr. Omari said. “The fighting was ongoing at the time.”
A spokesman for the American-led coalition, Brig. Gen. Charles H. Cleveland, confirmed only that “we conducted an airstrike against individuals firing on, and posing a threat to, our Afghan partners in Tirin Kot on 18 September.” His statement continued: “We don’t have any further information on who those individuals might have been or why they were attacking A.N.D.S.F. forces.” The initials refer to Afghan security forces, including the military and the police. “U.S., coalition and Afghan forces have the right to self-defense, and in this case were responding to an immediate threat.”
(Photo Credit: Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)