KABUL: An air strike by security forces killed four people and wounded eight others who were part of a wedding procession in the Afghan province of Kandahar, officials said on Friday.

Abdul Raziq, the Kandahar police chief, said Taliban militants had mounted an attack in the Maroof district when security forces responded with an air strike on Thursday.

“They [Taliban] tried to flee and got mixed up with villagers at a wedding procession.

“The air strike killed four civilians, including women and children, and 10 Taliban militants,” he said.

Aziz Ahmad Azizi, the provincial governor’s spokesman, said that Taliban fighters attacked villages in Maroof district but faced strong resistance by police. He said one policeman was killed and three others wounded.

Ten Taliban were killed and eight were wounded in the battle, he said. After that, the militants hid in people’s houses, leading to civilian casualties in the air strike. Kandahar province, on the border with Pakistan, is a major centre of opium cultivation and a stronghold of the Taliban.

Afghan officials said the incident was still being investigated and it was unclear whether the casualties had been caused by Afghan or US aircraft, both of which flew missions in support of the operation.

A Nato spokesman said its aircraft were not involved. “I can confirm we did not participate in any operations near Maroof [district] within the past 24 hours,” said Col Knut Peters, a Nato spokesman in Kabul.

According to the United Nations, at least 1,692 civilians have been killed in fighting in the first half of this year.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2018