US Air Raid Kills 12 Afghan Security Forces

By teleSUR

22 July 17

Another U.S. airstrike in October 2015 destroyed a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan and left 42 people dead.

U.S. airstrike confirmed by the Pentagon killed 12 Afghan National Police officers and wounded two others, Helmand provincial police chief Abdul Ghafar Safi said Saturday.

The death toll in Friday’s airstrike was determined after a site inspection of the compound in the Gereshk district, he said.

The United States in a statement confirmed that the airstrike on the Security Forces compound happened during a U.S.-supported operation against Taliban insurgents in the area.

"During a United States-supported ANDSF (Afghan National Defense and Security Forces) operation, aerial fires resulted in the deaths of the friendly Afghan forces who were gathered in a compound," the statement said.

"We would like to express our deepest condolences to the families affected by this unfortunate incident," the statement affirmed, adding that there would be an investigation into what happened.

In a telephone interview with the Associated Press, Safi said the victims were police officers who were operating with the army in the area. He said they retook a checkpoint captured by the Taliban when the airstrike occurred.

On Friday, Helmand Gov. Hayatullah Hayat said it was believed that the police officers were not in uniform, which may have resulted in mistakenly identifying them as Taliban fighters.

In Helmand, the Taliban has seized territory across the opium-rich province, leaving the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, and the economic hub, Gereshk, as some of the only areas still in government hands.

The Afghan National Army has begun operations to push the insurgents back from the capital in the past week with the help of NATO and U.S. troops.

Friday’s incident underlines the complicated security situation in Afghanistan as President Donald Trump's administration is considering sending more troops as part of a new strategy for the region.

According to U.S. military headquarters in Kabul, the United States has carried out 52 airstrikes in Helmand over the past five days, including 10 in Gereshk on Thursday.

There have been a series of incidents involving U.S. airstrikes and Afghans in the past.

In February, a U.S. airstrike in Sangin killed at least 18 civilians, mostly women and children. Last November, 32 Afghan civilians were killed in a U.S. airstrike in the northeastern province of Kunduz.

Another U.S. airstrike in October 2015 destroyed a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan and left 42 people dead.