ISLAMABAD, Nov 18: Nearly 150 people have been killed by US air strikes on Taliban targets in eastern Afghanistan in the past two days, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported on Sunday.

The agency said at least 50 people were killed on Sunday as US planes launched pre-dawn air strikes on the eastern province of Nangarhar.

Citing reports reaching Miran Shah, the AIP also said 62 people, mostly students of a religious school, were killed in US air strikes in and around the city of Khost on Friday night and Saturday.

The US military had acknowledged that a 500-pound laser-guided bomb dropped in Khost had suffered a “guidance malfunction”, missed its target and damaged a mosque.

But the agency said the bomb had hit a madreassa as its students were saying their evening prayers. The madressa, which belonged to top Taliban commmander Jalaluddin Haqqani, was located near the city’s main bazar.

Twenty-eight people, including 19 members of one family, were killed when US planes bombarded Zani Khel village, 10 kilometres west of Khost, AIP added.

In Nangarhar, the new provincial administrator Qari Abdul Salam said that 50 people were killed when US planes targeted Shamshad town, eight kilometres from the border with Pakistan.

The AIP said the jets raided the area before dawn and returned for a second attack when people from the adjoining villages were engaged in rescue operations.

The news agency said Sunday’s casualties were the first since the Taliban lost control of Nangarhar and a new administration took control of the province.

Seven people with serious injuries were brought to a hospital run by the Edhi Welfare Trust in Torkham, where one died later.

Imtiaz Hussain, administrator of the Edhi Hospital, said the victims who were brought in had reported the area had been bombed.

“I don’t know how many people died but it is likely there are many casualties,” Hussain said.

“I think the Americans are targetting the remaining Taliban checkpoints, ammunition and arms depots.”

RUSSIAN DELEGATION: A top Russian delegation arrived in Kabul on Sunday to hold talks with the anti-Taliban opposition as Moscow sought to play a role in the formation of a future government for Afghanistan, ITAR-TASS reported.

The delegation, including defense, interior and emergency ministry officials, was due to meet Burhanuddin Rabbani, recognized as Afghanistan’s president by the United Nations and most countries, among others.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said earlier that the group would attempt to “establish working contact with the leadership of the legitimate government of this nation”.

The delegation left for Kabul by helicopter from the Tajik capital Dushanbe, Afghan diplomatic sources said.

The visit to Kabul comes after Rabbani returned to the Afghan capital five years after being ousted from the city by the Taliban.

A top United Nations official also arrived in the city on Saturday to discuss Afghanistan’s future government. —AFP