News   /   Afghanistan

US-led drone strike kills over dozen in eastern Afghanistan

This file photo shows a US MQ-9 Reaper drone in flight with laser-guided munitions and Hellfire missiles.

More than a dozen people have lost their lives in Afghanistan in a new drone strike carried out by US-led foreign forces in the country’s east.

Attaullah Khogyani, the spokesman for the provincial governor, said on Friday that the aerial assault took place in the Narai Obah area of the southern district of Haska Mina, which is located more than 120 kilometers (74 miles) east of the Afghan capital, Kabul.

He said the airstrike targeted a hideout of the members of the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group in the area, killing 15 militants and destroying a considerable amount of weapons and ammunition.

Sangar Khan, a local resident, said that he had no information whether the victims were Daesh extremists.

The development came only a few hours after a US-led aerial attack was conducted in the Dih Bala district of the same Afghan province.

Some reports identified the deceased as members of the Takfiri Daesh militant group. Neither local authorities nor Daesh terrorists, however, made comments on the fatal airstrike.

Afghanistan, parts of which have long been considered a bastion of Taliban, has recently been seeing the emergence and expansion of Daesh. Nangarhar, in particular, is one area where Daesh has visibly gained a foothold.

The CIA regularly uses drones for airstrikes and spying missions in Afghanistan as well as in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt near the Afghan border.

The US says the airstrikes target members of al-Qaeda and other militants, but according to local officials and witnesses, civilians have in most cases been the victims of the attacks.

The United Nations says the US drone attacks are “targeted killings” that flout international law.


Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Press TV News Roku