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Several Afghan Troops Killed in Counter-Taliban Airstrike

by Ayaz Gul

   ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN --

   A counterinsurgency airstrike Friday in southern Afghanistan killed a
   number of government forces, including senior officers, sources told
   VOA.

   The friendly fire incident happened in the Gereshk district of Helmand
   province, where fighting had raged since Taliban insurgents staged a
   major assault on government outposts a day earlier.

   Provincial Governor Hayatullah Hayat told VOA Afghan that U.S. forces
   were bombing insurgent positions in the district when a newly restored
   outpost in the Sarband area was hit. He said the airstrike killed two
   officers and "a number of policemen," but did not give any other
   figures. Hayat said an investigation was under way to determine who was
   responsible for hitting the outpost.

   U.S. military officials confirmed that local security personnel aligned
   with Afghan government forces had been killed. Officials issued a
   statement calling the deaths "unfortunate" and pledged an investigation
   to "determine the specific circumstances that led to this incident."

   The deadly strike came after a Taliban suicide car bomb attack
   destroyed the same post just before the insurgents assaulted the
   district Thursday.

   The governor said the post was rebuilt and Afghan forces were
   redeployed just before it was bombed Friday afternoon.

   The Taliban controls several districts in Helmand, the largest Afghan
   province and a major poppy-growing region.

   Earlier this week, Afghan forces backed by U.S. air power and military
   advisers recaptured the Nawa district near the provincial capital of
   Lashkargah, nine months after the Taliban had overrun it.

   The restive Afghan province borders Pakistan and Iran.