KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (Reuters) - As many as 14 people, including women and children, were killed in an air strike carried out during an operation by Afghan security forces near the northern city of Kunduz on Thursday, officials said.

Afghan officials said the incident was still being investigated and it was unclear whether the casualties had been caused by Afghan or U.S. aircraft, both of which flew missions in support of the operation. A statement from the U.S. military said there was no indication that its aircraft were responsible.

The civilian deaths add to a total that reached record levels in the first half of the year, according to a United Nations report this week that noted a sharp jump in casualties from air strikes.

Nematullah Temori, a spokesman for the Kunduz governor, said women and children were among 14 people killed in the raid in Chardara, a district outside Kunduz city that has long been fought over between Taliban and government security forces.

The incident underlined the risks from the increased use of air power under a strategy designed to force the Taliban to accept peace talks.

As air strikes have increased, the U.N. report said civilian casualties from aerial attacks rose by 52 percent in the first half of the year to 353 killed and wounded. It urged forces to improve civilian protection in air operations.

Mohammad Radmanish, a spokesman for the ministry of defense, confirmed that a number of civilians had been killed but said details were still unclear.

“An investigation team from Kabul has been deployed to the province to investigate the incident,” he said. “For the moment, it is difficult to say how many civilians were killed or wounded and who carried out the air strike.”

A statement from the U.S. military command in Kabul said U.S. forces had conducted strikes in the area in support of Afghan-led ground operations, but that its on-the-ground assessment of those strikes gave no indication U.S. forces had caused civilian casualties.

A statement from the Taliban said 28 civilians had been killed. It said most of the victims were women and children and blamed U.S. forces.

According to the United Nations, at least 1,692 civilians were killed in the conflict during the first half of the year, the highest total for the first half of a year that the world body has recorded since it adopted its method of tallying casualties in 2009.

Kunduz, a key strategic target for the Taliban that briefly fell to the insurgents in 2015, has seen repeated incidents in which civilians have been killed by air strikes.

In April, dozens were killed by a strike on Dasht-i Archi district that local villagers said hit people attending a religious ceremony.</s>Afghan security forces with support of coalition forces launched air raid on Chardara district in northern Kunduz province on early Thursday, killing at least 20 civilians and injuring a dozen others, local residents and officials said.

The airstrike was conducted on three residential houses in Sarak Bala village of Chardara district, leaving many civilians dead including women and children, local residents said.

Confirming the incident, the provincial governor’s spokesman Nimatullah Timory said that a delegation has been dispatched to the district to probe the incident.

The Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish, however, confirmed the death of 14 civilians in the airstrike .

It was the third airstrike in Kunduz which caused casualties to civilians after an airstrike in Dasht-e-Archi district that left over 100 dead to civilians mostly children.</s>11 killed in US drone attack in Afghanistan, official says

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At least 14 civilians including women and children were killed in an Afghan-U.S. aerial operation in northern Kunduz province, officials said Friday.

Two other civilians were wounded in the strike, which took place in Char Dara district of the province, Ministry of Defense Spokesman Mohammad Radmanish said.

At least three residential houses were destroyed in the attack, a spokesman for the governor of Kunduz, Enaamuddin Rahmani, and provincial council member Aminullah Ayiddin said.

On April, an Afghan airstrike on a religious school in the Dasht-e-Archi district of Kunduz left at least 50 people dead, including civilians.

Military operations by both Afghan and insurgent groups in Afghanistan have intensified in recent months, with civilian casualties hitting a new record in 2018, according to U.N. data.

According to the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), 1,692 civilians were killed between January 1 and June 30 - the highest figure reported for that period over the last nine years.

Separately, at least 12 police officers were killed after Taliban terrorists stormed a checkpoint in Imam Saheb district of Kunduz, a provincial council member said. A police chief for the district put the casualties at six dead and five injured.</s>At least 14 people, including women and children, have been killed in an Afghan-U.S. air strike near the northern city of Kunduz, officials say.

Afghan officials said it was still unclear whether the casualties had been caused by Afghan or U.S. aircraft, both of which flew missions in support of an operation on the ground on July 19.

A statement from the U.S. military said there was no indication that its planes were responsible.

Nematullah Temori, a spokesman for the Kunduz governor, said women and children were among 14 people killed in the raid in Chardara, a district outside Kunduz.

Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish confirmed the death toll, adding that two more civilians were injured in the air strike.

In April, an Afghan air strike on a religious school in the Dasht-e Archi district of Kunduz left at least 50 people dead, including civilians.

Military operations by both Afghan forces and militants have been stepped up in recent months, with civilian casualties reaching a new record in 2018.

According to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, 1,692 civilians were killed between January 1 and June 30 — the highest figure reported for that period in the past nine years.

The UN report also said that air strikes had increased substantially, with civilian casualties from aerial attacks rising by 52 percent in the first half of the year to 353 killed and wounded.

Separately, at least 12 police officers were killed when Taliban militants stormed a checkpoint in the Imam Saheb district of Kunduz, according to a provincial council member.

In the eastern province of Ghazni, Taliban fighters launched a wave of attacks, killing at least eight police and wounding seven others, provincial Governor Saib Khan Elham said on July 20.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and dpa

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
• Afghanistan probes deaths of 14 civilians after US airstrikes
• Families Of Kunduz Airstrike Victims Ask For Justice; former president, Hamid Karzai has called the incident a war crime and inhuman</s>KUNDUZ, Afghanistan: As many as 14 people, including women and children, were killed in an air strike carried out during an operation by Afghan security forces near the northern city of Kunduz on Thursday, officials said.

The civilian deaths add to a total that reached record levels in the first half of the year, according to a United Nations report this week that noted a sharp jump in casualties from air strikes.

Nematullah Temori, a spokesman for the Kunduz governor, said the 14 killed in the raid in Chardara, a district outside Kunduz city that has long been fought over between Taliban and government security forces, included women and children.

The incident underlined the risks from the increased use of air power under a U.S. strategy designed to force the Taliban to accept peace talks. As well as conducting more air strikes of its own, the United States is also heavily assisting the fledgling Afghan air force.

As air strikes have increased, the U.N. report said civilian casualties from aerial attacks rose by 52 percent in the first half of the year to 353 killed and wounded and it urged forces to improve civilian protection in air operations.

Mohammad Radmanish, a spokesman for the ministry of defence, confirmed that a number of civilians had been killed but said the incident was still being investigated. He said it was unclear whether the strike had been conducted by the Afghan airforce or U.S. aircraft.

"An investigation team from Kabul has been deployed to the province to investigate the incident," he said. "For the moment it is difficult to say how many civilians were killed or wounded and who conducted the air strike."

There was no immediate comment from the headquarters of the NATO-led Resolute Support mission in Kabul.

A statement from the Taliban said 28 civilians had been killed. It said most of the victims were women and children and blamed U.S. forces.

According to the United Nations, at least 1,692 civilians were killed in the conflict during the first half of the year, the highest total ever recorded in the equivalent period.

Kunduz, a key strategic target for the Taliban that briefly fell to the insurgents in 2015, has seen repeated incidents in which civilians have been killed by air strikes.

In April, dozens were killed by a strike on Dasht-i Archi district that local villagers said hit people attending a religious ceremony.</s>Afghan authorities are probing reports that 14 civilians were killed or wounded during a military operation, the defence ministry said Friday, with several officials saying women and children were among the victims.

The casualties were caused by an air strike in the northern province of Kunduz on Thursday, Char Dara district governor Zalmai Farooqi and villagers told AFP.

Villager Haji Shireen said 13 people, all women or children, were killed in the aerial bombardment that also destroyed some houses in Robat village.

An AFP reporter said he saw 12 bodies when he visited the village on Thursday.

Kunduz regional hospital head Naeem Mangal said the bodies of 12 women and children had been brought to the medical facility.

"Women and children were martyred," Farooqi said, blaming "foreign" forces for the air strike.

US forces had carried out air strikes "in support of Afghan-led ground operations" in the district, NATO's Resolute Support mission said in a statement.

But "an on-the-ground assessment of those strikes revealed no indications they caused civilian casualties," it added.

The defence ministry statement did not specify if the casualties were caused by an air strike.

"A high-ranking military and government delegation has been appointed to closely investigate the incident," the statement said.

Kunduz governor spokesman Naimatullah Taimor confirmed an investigative team had arrived in Char Dara district.

The incident comes days after a UN report showed the number of civilians killed in the nearly 17-year conflict hit a record high in the first six months of 2018.

The toll of 1,692 fatalities was one percent more than a year earlier and the highest for the period since the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) began keeping records in 2009.

Another 3,430 people were wounded in the war, down five percent from the same period last year, the report said.

Air strikes caused 353 casualties in the six-month period, up 52 percent on last year. More than half of the civilian casualties were caused by the Afghan Air Force.

One of the worst incidents was in Kunduz in April, when an Afghan air strike on an outdoor religious gathering in Dashte Archi killed or wounded 107 people, mostly children, a previous UNAMA report found.

The government and military said it had targeted a Taliban base where senior members of the group were planning attacks.

Kunduz has been the scene of fierce fighting between Afghan security forces and the Taliban, which has been resurgent since the withdrawal of NATO combat forces at the end of 2014.

As many as 40 security forces were killed in a series of Taliban attacks in Dashte Archi district earlier this month, security sources told AFP previously.
Fourteen civilians are killed in an airstrike near Kunduz.