US strike: '17 civilians dead'

2005-07-04 10:33

Kabul - Seventeen people, including a number of women and children, died when US aircraft bombed a suspected militant hideout in eastern Afghanistan last week, a provincial governor said on Monday.

US forces launched the airstrike on Chichal village in the province of Kunar on Friday during a search for a missing American reconnaissance team.

"Seventeen civilians died in the US bombing of the village," said Kunar governor Assadullah Wafa. "There are a number of children and women among the victims but I don't have the exact figure right now."

The US military said at the weekend they had bombed Kunar province but did not confirm any civilian casualties.

Targeted

The attack targeted a compound "which in our assessment we had to hit immediately", spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jerry O'Hara said on Saturday.

Another US spokesperson, US Colonel James Yonts, also said on Saturday that "all possible efforts are taken to prevent non-combatant injuries and deaths".

The ousted Taliban regime said on Saturday that the US bombing had killed 25 civilians, including children.

Reports on Sunday said that one of the missing US special forces soldiers had been rescued almost a week after the team went missing in a rugged mountain area of Kunar. US forces were searching for the rest of the group.

Suspected

Sixteen US service members died on Tuesday when an American MH-47 Chinook helicopter was shot down by suspected militants as it made a botched attempt to extract the reconnaissance team.

It was the biggest US loss of life in a single attack since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001.

During the same period of time, US-led forces in Afghanistan have killed scores of civilians in their hunt for insurgents.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai voiced concerns in May about civilian deaths resulting from US-led operations.

- AFP