An air attack by Afghan forces on a gathering at a religious school in a Taliban stronghold has caused multiple casualties, including civilians, Afghan officials and witnesses said.

Top Taliban commanders were gathered inside the madrasa, where a graduation ceremony was under way for students at the time of the attack on Monday in the northeastern province of Kunduz, a security source told AFP news agency.

He said an unknown number of civilians were among the casualties that also included senior Taliban commanders who were "planning for the next spring operations".

"Several dead and at least 15 wounded", including children, who were taken to the regional hospital in the provincial capital Kunduz, Dr Naim Mangal told AFP.

Relatives of the wounded told an AFP photographer at the hospital that the attack happened during a graduation ceremony at the madrasa in Dashte Archi district, which is controlled by the Taliban.

"When the planes came at around 12:00 pm some kids screamed 'they will drop a bomb' but the elders said 'calm down, nothing is going to happen', but then in an instant bombs hit the mosque," Mohammad Ishaq told AFP.

It was not clear if the madrasa was inside the mosque or if it was a separate building.

Ishaq said civilians, students and some Taliban members, who had been invited to attend the ceremony, were inside the mosque at the time of the attack. There were three air attacks which "destroyed" the building, he added.

"I escaped unhurt but many people were killed and injured and I saw their bodies laying on the ground," he said.

The Taliban issued a statement confirming the attack on the madrasa, but denied its fighters had been meeting at the school.

Around 150 religious scholars and civilians - most of them children - were among the dead and wounded, the group added.

Several boys with their arms and legs bandaged were seen laying in beds and along the corridors of the hospital.

The security source said the Taliban had started meeting at madrassas in the hope of avoiding air attacks.

'No civilians killed'

A defence ministry spokesman confirmed an air attack in Dashte Archi, but described the location as a kind of Taliban "training centre" and denied civilians were among the casualties.

"Twenty Taliban, including the commander of their Red Unit in the district, and also a key member of the Quetta Shura were killed," Mohammad Radmanish said.

The Red Unit is the armed group's elite unit, and the Quetta Shura is its leadership council.

The same number were wounded, Radmanish added.

The meeting included a "high-ranking Taliban delegation" from the Quetta Shura, Ghulam Hazrat, a spokesman for the 20th army division in Kunduz, told AFP.

"Fifteen Taliban were killed and 10 were wounded," Hazrat said. He also denied civilians were among the casualties.

A senior local official said "around 150" people had been killed and wounded in the air raid.

Afghan officials often give conflicting casualty figures after an attack.

Obtaining detailed information is difficult because the Taliban controls the area. Most telecommunication services are cut from late afternoon on Taliban orders, locals say.

A spokesman for US Forces said they were not involved in Monday's air attack.

Afghanistan's fledgling air force has accelerated bombardments in recent months as the Americans beef up the country's aerial capability with more aircraft and better weapons.

Earlier this month, the Afghan Air Force dropped its first laser-guided bomb on a Taliban compound in the western province of Farah, where the armed group has gone on the offensive.

US and Afghan forces are increasing ground and air offensives against Taliban and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) as they try to get the upper hand in the 16-year war.

The latest attack comes weeks before the Taliban usually launches its spring offensive.

The group is under growing pressure to take up President Ashraf Ghani's offer of peace talks but so far it has not responded.</s>The Afghan Defense Ministry says Monday’s attack by the government air force on a Taliban meeting in Dasht-i-Archi district of Kunduz province, killed senior commanders of the group including Quetta Shura member Mawlavi Baryal.

Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, the Defense Ministry’s Deputy Spokesman Mohammad Radmanish said that the Afghan Air Force did not target civilians but had targeted a gathering of Taliban members and their commanders in Kunduz airstrike.

He said the Taliban opened fire on Afghan air force helicopters and then on civilians after the airstrike.

At the press conference, Radmanish also showed photographs and aerial footage of the targeted area. He said the people photographed were Taliban leaders and fighters and had been filmed while coming together to plan attacks against the Afghan army troops in the province.

According to the Defense Ministry, the airstrike which took place on Monday at around 11:00 am in a Taliban-controlled area, killed at least 18 of the group’s commanders, including a Quetta Shura member Mawlavi Baryal.

“Yesterday’s raid on the Taliban stronghold, has claim lives of some children [as well] and I offer condolences to their families,” Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said.

United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said it was investigating the incident amid reports of civilian casualties.

“UNAMA actively looking into disturbing reports of serious harm to civilians yesterday from airstrike at DashtiArchi, Kunduz. Human Rights team on ground establishing facts. All parties reminded of obligations to protect civilians from impact of armed conflict,” UN tweeted.

The President’s office, meanwhile in a statement on Tuesday said that it has appointed a task team to investigate Monday’s airstrike in Dasht-e-Archi of Kunduz province.

According to the statement, the assigned commission – headed by General Khudaidad Hazara, the Inspector General of the National Security Council, and include presidential advisors Tahir Safai and Sayed Sulaiman Hamid – was asked to report back about findings of their investigation to the national security council meeting within a week.</s>KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - An Afghan official says at least five civilians and 35 insurgents have been killed in an airstrike by Afghan forces in northern Kunduz province.

Nematullah Temori, spokesman for the provincial governor in Kunduz, said Tuesday that 55 civilians were wounded in the attack a day earlier in Dashti Archi district. He said a government delegation is investigating the incident.

Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish earlier said the airstrike targeted Taliban fighters and killed more than 30 of them, including nine commanders. He said large number of fighters had gathered in the area to hold a military parade.

The Taliban said in a statement that the airstrike hit a madrassa, or Islamic religious school, killing and wounding more than 100 clerics, religious students and other civilians.</s>An Afghan forces air strike on a suspected Taliban gathering in the northern province of Kunduz has caused dozens of casualties, including among civilians, officials said.

Abdul Hameed Hameedi, a local police official, said the strike in Dasht-i Archi district outside Kunduz city on April 2 hit a gathering of Taliban fighters preparing an operation, killing at least 15 and wounding 10.

A representative from the Taliban leadership council based in the Pakistani city of Quetta was visiting when the air strike took place, and civilians were among those killed, he said, without providing details.

The Afghan military in a statement claimed that the strike killed at least 15 Taliban militants, including Mullah Beryani, the senior Quetta Shura member. It said 10 people were wounded and no civilians were killed.

The strike came during the time of year when the Taliban usually announces an annual spring offensive, stepping up attacks in its 16-year war against U.S. forces and the government in Kabul.

Dasht-i Archi has been largely under the control of the Taliban since 2015, and there was conflicting information given to the media about casualties from the April 2 air strike.

Some witnesses and local officials said the strike hit a mosque or madrassa where a graduation ceremony was taking place, and dozens of civilians were killed and wounded.

Mawlawi Abdullah, a provincial council member from Kunduz, told dpa that around 50 to 60 people were killed when the strike hit a madrassa, or religious school, where Taliban members and civilians had gathered for a graduation ceremony.

A security official told AFP that the Taliban was planning for its annual spring offensive in the madrassa and held the meeting there in hopes of avoiding air strikes.

A statement from the Taliban said the strike killed 150 religious scholars and civilians and denied that any of its forces were present.

A spokeswoman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan said U.S. forces were not involved in any air strikes in the area.

Afghanistan's fledgling air force has accelerated bombardments in recent months as the United States under a new strategy announced last year has beefed up the country's aerial capability with more aircraft and better weapons.

Building up the fledgling Afghan air force has been a major priority for the U.S.-led NATO mission in Afghanistan, and Kabul's air force has had increasing success in supporting ground forces.

The Afghan Air Force recently dropped its first laser-guided bomb on a Taliban compound in the western province of Farah, where the militants have gone on the offensive.

But the incident in Kunduz showed one of the risks of the greater use of Afghan air power under the new U.S. strategy, the stated aim of which is to try to force the Taliban to the negotiating table.

Civilian casualties caused by the air strikes have risked undermining public support for the campaign.

Recent figures from the United Nations have shown a rise in the number of civilian casualties caused by air strikes in Afghanistan.

The UN said the Afghan air force was responsible for about half of the 630 civilian casualties caused by air strikes last year.

With reporting by AFP, dpa, and Reuters</s>Afghan air strike against Taliban causes dozens of casualties: officials

An Afghan forces air strike on a suspected Taliban gathering in the northern province of Kunduz has caused dozens of casualties, including many civilians, officials say.

The precise number of people killed in the strike, in the Dasht-e Archi district outside Kunduz city, varies in different reports. According to the New York Times, as many as 70 were killed.

However Reuters reported a local police official, Abdul Hameed Hameedi, as saying 15 were killed and 10 wounded.

The strike targeted a gathering of Taliban fighters preparing for an operation. A representative from the Taliban leadership council based in the Pakistani city of Quetta was visiting at the time, he said.

He said there were also civilian casualties but he had no further details.

Local people said the strike hit a mosque and large numbers of civilians were killed and wounded.

Dasht-e Archi has been largely under the control of Taliban fighters.

However health officials in Kunduz city said five deceased people and 40 wounded had been brought into city hospitals.

A statement from the Taliban said the strike killed 150 religious scholars and civilians and denied that any of its forces were present.

Army Colonel Lisa Garcia, United States Forces-Afghanistan spokesperson, said US forces had not carried out any attacks in the area.

"US Forces-Afghanistan did not conduct air strikes in Kunduz province today. Any claims to the contrary are baseless," she said in an emailed statement.

The incident nonetheless underlined one of the risks of the greater use of air power under the new US strategy announced last year to try to force the Taliban to the negotiating table.

Building up the fledgling Afghan Air Force (AAF) has been a major priority for the NATO-led Resolute Support training and advisory mission in Afghanistan and the AAF has had increasing success in supporting ground forces.

But civilian casualties caused by the air strikes have risked undermining public support for the campaign.

Recent figures from the United Nations showed a rise in the number of civilian casualties caused by air strikes even while the total number of civilian casualties had declined.</s>The United Nations says it is probing “disturbing reports of serious harm” to civilians during Monday’s Afghan military airstrikes on a Taliban-controlled district in northern Kunduz province.

Villagers in Dasth-i Archi told reporters Tuesday they attended mass funerals of dozens of victims, including children, insisting the Afghan Air Force bombed a packed madrassa, or religious seminary.

Local media reported the death of more than 50 people from the strikes, saying that about 150 also were wounded.

The provincial governor’s office said the attack had caused an unknown number of civilian casualties but gave no other details.

The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, reminded all parties of their obligations to protect civilians from impact of the armed conflict.

“UNAMA [is] actively looking into disturbing reports of serious harm to civilians… Human Rights team on ground establishing facts,” the mission said.

Critics say the deadly attack could lead to revenge insurgent attacks and undermine efforts to encourage the Taliban to come to the negotiating table.

Afghan Ambassador to neighboring Pakistan Omar Zakhilwal condemned the strike as an “irresponsible” action, cautioning such attacks are detrimental to efforts aimed at ending the ongoing "bloody and destructive war."

The "aerial strike on a madrassa in Dasth-i Archi, which killed many civilians, including children, is condemnable,” the Afghan diplomat tweeted Tuesday. "This will further prolong the conflict and bloodshed," he added.

Afghan Defense Ministry officials denied reports of civilian casualties. They maintained combat helicopters undertook the counterinsurgency mission after spy drones had established the compound was a Taliban training facility.

Officials said a big meeting of key insurgent commanders and fighters was underway at the time of the attack, killing more than 35 of them.

The reported casualties underscored the risk of increased reliance on air power under U.S. President Donald Trump's new strategy to try to force the Taliban to the negotiating table.

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai also condemned Monday's attack in Kunduz, saying it killed and wounded civilians. “Such raids, carried out in the name of fighting terrorism, on our homes, hospitals and religious facilities are against all principles,” Karzai tweeted.

Kunduz briefly fell to the Taliban in 2015 and the insurgents overran it for a second time the following year before U.S. air support enabled Afghan forces to evict the rebels from the area.

A 2015 U.S. military airstrike, while the Taliban was still in control of Kunduz, mistakenly hit and destroyed a hospital, killing 42 people, mostly patients and medical staff. Residents say the Taliban maintain a strong presence in districts surrounding the provincial capital.

Civilians continue to bear the brunt of the prolonged Afghan hostilities. UNAMA documented more than 10,000 civilian casualties in 2017, including around 3,500 fatalities.</s>An Afghan official says an airstrike on a Taliban training camp in northern Afghanistan killed at least 20 insurgents and wounded many more on Monday, while the Taliban said the airstrike hit a religious school during a graduation ceremony, killing dozens of civilians.

It was not immediately possible to reconcile the conflicting accounts.

Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish said “initial reports” indicate the airstrike in the Dashti Archi district of Kunduz province killed around 20 Taliban fighters, including a local commander, and wounded many more.

“I can confirm that a Taliban training centre was bombed and no civilians were present,” he said.

The Taliban said in a statement that the airstrike hit a madrasa, or religious school, killing and wounding more than 100 clerics, religious students and other civilians.

In a separate incident in the southern Helmand province, at least 48 schoolgirls fell ill at a high school in what provincial authorities suspect is a case of mass poisoning.

Dr. Nisar Ahmad Barak said the girls were admitted on Monday at his hospital in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, with headaches and vomiting, but that they are all now in stable condition and receiving treatment. He did not have any further details.

Ahmad Bilal Haqbeen, deputy director at Helmand's education department, said the girls attend the 11th grade at the city's Central Girls School. He said an investigation is underway. Both officials said the girls were deliberately poisoned.

Most of Helmand province is under the control of the Taliban, who oppose girls' education.</s>An Afghan airstrike on a religious school in a Taliban stronghold on Monday caused multiple casualties, including civilians, Afghan officials and witnesses said.

Top Taliban commanders were gathered inside the madrassa at the time of the attack in the northeastern province of Kunduz, a security source told AFP.

He said an unknown number of civilians were among the casualties that also included senior Taliban commanders who were "planning for the next spring operations".

"Several dead and at least 15 wounded", including children, were taken to the regional hospital in the provincial capital Kunduz, Naim Mangal, a doctor, told AFP.

Relatives of the wounded told an AFP photographer at the hospital that the attack happened during a graduation ceremony for madrassa students.

A defence ministry spokesman confirmed an airstrike in Dashte Archi district but described the location as a kind of Taliban "training centre" and denied civilians were among the casualties.

"Twenty Taliban, including the commander of their Red Unit in the district, and also a key member of the Quetta Shura were killed," Mohammad Radmanish said.

The Red Unit is the insurgent group's elite unit, and the Quetta Shura is the group's leadership council.

The same number were wounded, Radmanish added.

The meeting included a "high-ranking Taliban delegation" from the Quetta Shura, Ghulam Hazrat, a spokesman for the 20th army division in Kunduz, told AFP.

"Fifteen Taliban were killed and 10 were wounded," Hazrat said. He also denied civilians were among the casualties.

A senior local official said "around 150" people had been killed and wounded in the airstrike.

Afghan officials often give conflicting casualty figures after an attack.

Obtaining detailed information is difficult because the Taliban controls the area. Most telecommunication services are cut from late afternoon on Taliban orders, locals say.

A spokesman for US Forces said they were not involved in Monday's airstrike.

Afghanistan's fledgling air force has accelerated bombardments in recent months as the Americans beef up the country's aerial capability with more aircraft and better weapons.

Earlier this month, the Afghan Air Force dropped its first laser-guided bomb on a Taliban compound in the western province of Farah, where the militants have gone on the offensive.

US and Afghan forces are increasing ground and air offensives against Taliban and Islamic State insurgents as they try to get the upper hand in the 16-year war.

The latest airstrike comes weeks before the Taliban usually launches its spring offensive which is expected to be particularly bloody this year.</s>ISLAMABAD — The United Nations says it is probing “disturbing reports of serious harm” to civilians during Monday’s Afghan military airstrikes on a Taliban-controlled district in northern Kunduz province.

Villagers in Dasth-i Archi told reporters Tuesday they attended mass funerals of dozens of victims, including children, insisting the Afghan Air Force bombed a packed madrassa, or religious seminary.

Local media reported the death of more than 50 people from the strikes, saying that about 150 also were wounded.

The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, reminded all parties of their obligations to protect civilians from impact of the armed conflict.

“UNAMA [is] actively looking into disturbing reports of serious harm to civilians … Human Rights team on ground establishing facts,” the mission said in a tweet.

Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish said Tuesday, more than 24 hours after the attack, that the air force targeted an “enemy stronghold” and killed 18 senior Taliban commanders among others, including foreigners.

He insisted combat helicopters undertook the counterinsurgency mission after spy drones had established the compound was a Taliban training facility.

Taliban leaders supervising insurgent operations in northeastern Afghanistan and commandos of the insurgent group’s so-called “Red Unit” were also among the slain men, the Defense Ministry spokesman asserted. Radmanish added insurgents had convened a meeting to prepare for a major offensive in Kunduz.

Radmanish claimed Taliban fighters fired back at army helicopters with anti-aircraft guns during the aerial operation and later they intentionally sprayed civilians in the area with bullets.

“People who have been brought to hospitals from the site have received bullet wounds and it shows they were shot at by gunmen on the ground during the airstrikes,” he asserted during a news conference. The spokesman, however, added that a high-level investigation was underway to determine more facts.

A Taliban spokesman swiftly rejected the ministry’s claims, saying none of its members was present in the gathering and the strikes hit mostly children in the madrassa.

Critics say the deadly attack could lead to revenge insurgent attacks and undermine efforts to encourage the Taliban to come to the negotiating table.

Afghan Ambassador to neighboring Pakistan Omar Zakhilwal condemned the strike as an “irresponsible” action, cautioning such attacks are detrimental to efforts aimed at ending the ongoing “bloody and destructive war.”

The “aerial strike on a madrassa in Dasth-i Archi, which killed many civilians, including children, is condemnable,” the Afghan diplomat tweeted Tuesday. “This will further prolong the conflict and bloodshed,” he added.

The reported civilian casualties underscored the risk of increased reliance on air power under U.S. President Donald Trump’s new strategy to try to force the Taliban to the negotiating table.

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai also condemned Monday’s attack in Kunduz, saying it killed and wounded civilians. “Such raids, carried out in the name of fighting terrorism, on our homes, hospitals and religious facilities are against all principles,” Karzai tweeted.

Kunduz briefly fell to the Taliban in 2015 and the insurgents overran it for a second time the following year before U.S. air support enabled Afghan forces to evict the rebels from the area.

A 2015 U.S. military airstrike, while the Taliban was still in control of Kunduz, mistakenly hit and destroyed a hospital, killing 42 people, mostly patients and medical staff. Residents say the Taliban maintain a strong presence in districts surrounding the provincial capital.

Civilians continue to bear the brunt of the prolonged Afghan hostilities. UNAMA documented more than 10,000 civilian casualties in 2017, including around 3,500 fatalities.</s>The Afghan government has released new drone video footage as it defends an airstrike it carried out this week in Taliban-controlled Kunduz province. The government says more than 30 Taliban fighters were killed in Monday's airstrike on a religious school. Eyewitnesses said numerous civilians including children died in the strike. Mohammad Habibzada reports.
Eyewitnesses and officials say an Afghan airstrike targeted a madrasa being used as a meeting place by the Taliban in Kunduz during a graduation ceremony, with casualties including civilians.