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US air strike kills Afghan children
Seven Afghan children have been killed during a US-led coalition air strike against a suspected al-Qaeda safe house in eastern Afghanistan that also left several fighters dead, the force said.
The coalition said it had "credible intelligence" that fighters were hiding in a compound in Paktika province that also contained a religious school.
Its forces "confirmed the presence of nefarious activity" at the site before getting approval to carry out Sunday's attack, a coalition statement said.
"Early reporting has that seven children at the madrassa died as a result of the strike," it said.
Major Chris Belcher, a coalition spokesman, said: "We are saddened by the innocent lives that were lost as a result of militants' cowardice."
Sgt. 1st Class Dean Welch, another coalition spokesman, said: "If we knew that there were children inside the building, there was no way that that airstrike would have occurred."
The coalition also said it had killed "several dozen" Taliban fighters after their forces were attacked on two occasions in Helmand and Kandahar provinces.
Two foreign soldiers were injured in Sunday's clashes, with coalition forces calling in air strikes in the Kandahar incident.
Street protests
The children's deaths are the latest in a series of civilian deaths involving foreign troops.
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/491E90EA-DB33-4AC3-8C2A-F327427BC5C8.htm
Its forces "confirmed the presence of nefarious activity" at the site before getting approval to carry out Sunday's attack, a coalition statement said.
"Early reporting has that seven children at the madrassa died as a result of the strike," it said.
Major Chris Belcher, a coalition spokesman, said: "We are saddened by the innocent lives that were lost as a result of militants' cowardice."
Sgt. 1st Class Dean Welch, another coalition spokesman, said: "If we knew that there were children inside the building, there was no way that that airstrike would have occurred."
The coalition also said it had killed "several dozen" Taliban fighters after their forces were attacked on two occasions in Helmand and Kandahar provinces.
Two foreign soldiers were injured in Sunday's clashes, with coalition forces calling in air strikes in the Kandahar incident.
Street protests
The children's deaths are the latest in a series of civilian deaths involving foreign troops.
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/491E90EA-DB33-4AC3-8C2A-F327427BC5C8.htm
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