At least 26 civilians, most of them women and children, were killed in Afghanistan's Helmand province last week, most of them victims of airstrikes conducted by international forces, a UN relief organization said Sunday. The American military says it has conducted 30 airstrikes around Helmand in the last week, and it will look into the UN’s allegations. "We are investigating the allegations and working diligently to determine whether civilians were killed or injured as a result of US air strikes," Brigadier General Charles Cleveland, a US army spokesman in Afghanistan, said in a statement. Earlier this week, a US military commander suggested that the NATO-led force in Afghanistan should expand its presence, as he felt the troops assisting Kabul in tackling militant insurgents were "a few thousand" soldiers short. On Sunday (12 February), the UN said in a statement: "On 9 and 10 February, international military forces conducted airstrikes in Helmand's Sangin district reportedly targeting anti-government elements. While the UN statement said that the allegedly deadly strikes had been conducted by "international military forces," only US aircraft had been involved in recent military operations in the region, Reuters reported, citing military officials. "We all know that there is a fight against the Taliban going on in Sangin for the past 10 days, there are mortars being fired by the Taliban and Afghan forces are fighting them, so its not at all clear at the moment how these civilians were killed." The attack killed at least seven civilians, and at least as many were injured, mainly child vendors outside the bank.”

According to UNAMA, the people of Helmand have suffered greatly due to the armed conflict in Afghanistan, with 891 civilians killed or injured during 2016. Civilian casualties from both American and Afghan air strikes increased dramatically last year, according to the UN's most recent report on threats to civilians.
According to a United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan inquiry, 18 civilians in Helmand Province were killed in coalition air raids last Thursday and Friday, with locals and Afghan officials claiming that the death toll is higher.