US airstrike 'kills several civilians' in Afghanistan

Saaz Wali Shinwari, the district governor of Haska Mina in Nangarhar province, said the raid was carried out by US troops although there was no official confirmation from NATO.

"On Thursday afternoon, the American forces bombarded a civilian private vehicle... when they were travelling inside the district," he told AFP.

"Unfortunately, in the airstrike we have casualties. Eleven people were killed and one wounded. All the victims, which included women and children, were civilians and they were from one family.

"The victims were beyond recognition, and they were placed inside the sacks and were buried late last night," he added.

Of the roughly 13,000 foreign forces in Afghanistan only the United States carries out airstrikes.

They have been regularly targeting Islamic State insurgents who control several districts in restive Nangarhar.

Dawlat Waziri, a spokesman for Afghanistan's defence ministry, said the strike was carried out by foreign forces in coordination with Afghan officials.   

"In the strike, five insurgents were killed and two others were wounded.

"We do not have any news about civilian casualties. But, we have appointed a delegation to investigate if civilians are killed," he told AFP.  

NATO said they were unable to provide any information.

Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the Nangarhar provincial governor, said an unknown number of civilians had died but was unable to say who carried out the strike.

"I can confirm an airstrike in Haska Mina district of Nangarhar province and it led to civilian casualties. For the time being, we do not have a precise figure about the casualties," he told AFP.

Last month a US airstrike killed 16 policemen in Helmand province. It came after a US airstrike in Sangin killed at least 18 civilians, mostly women and children, in February.

Civilian deaths are at an all-time high in Afghanistan. In the first half of the year, 1,662 civilians were killed and more than 3,500 injured, according to the United Nations.

US boots in Afghanistan

The latest strike came after the Pentagon confessed there some 11,000 US forces currently deployed in Afghanistan, not the 8,400 number that is routinely reported, according to CBS News.

Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump cleared the way for the deployment of thousands more US troops to Afghanistan, backtracking from his promise to rapidly end America's longest war.

In his first formal address to the nation as commander-in-chief, Trump discarded his previous criticism of the 16-year-old war as a waste of time and money, admitting things looked different from "behind the desk in the Oval Office".

"My instinct was to pull out," Trump said as he spoke of his frustration with a war that has killed thousands of US troops and cost US taxpayers trillions of dollars.

But following months of deliberation, Trump said he had concluded "the consequences of a rapid exit are both predictable and unacceptable" leaving a "vacuum" that terrorists "would instantly fill".

Afghanistan on Tuesday welcomed Trump's decision to renew US engagement in the war-torn country. 

President Ashraf Ghani said in a statement that the announcement showed the "enduring commitment by Afghanistan's foundational partner in this global conflict". 

Also on Tuesday, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Trump's plan, saying the alliance would not let the country become a haven for terrorists.

"Our aim remains to ensure that Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for terrorists who would attack our own countries," he said in a statement.

The US has grown increasingly weary of the conflict that began in October 2001 as a hunt for the 9/11 attackers has turned into a vexed effort to keep Afghanistan's divided and corruption-hindered democracy alive amid a brutal Taliban insurgency.

The Islamist group vowed on Tuesday it would make the country "a graveyard" for the United States and would continue its "jihad" as long as American troops remained in the country.

"If America doesn't withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, soon Afghanistan will become another graveyard for this superpower in the 21st century," Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban in Afghanistan, said in a statement.

He added that America should think of an exit strategy "instead of continuing the war".

"As long as there is one US soldier in our land, and they continue to impose war on us, we, with a high morale will continue our jihad," Mujahid said.

Agencies contributed to this report