Four civilians have been killed in an airstrike called in by British forces, following a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan, according to the Ministry of Defence.
It is reported that two women and two children died after Tuesday's strike in the south of Helmand Province, in the southern part of the country. Another person was injured.
They were evacuated to the British field hospital at Camp Bastion for medical treatment.
The MoD expressed its "deep regret" at the incident, which is now being investigated.
It said British troops called in air support after being ambushed by Taliban forces at an undisclosed location, a spokeswoman said.
The British troops engaged in an intense firefight, before support was requested to target the area where the Taliban appeared to have been operating, only to unintentionally kill the civilians.
Details of the incident were first disclosed by a Nato spokesman, who attributed involvement in the strike to the organisation's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).
But the MoD later confirmed British involvement.
It is not known if the aircraft used in the strike was British.
Speaking for Nato, Brigadier General Carlos Branco said: "We deeply regret the loss of innocent life and injuries by civilians and we are saddened that casualties were caused as a result of a deliberate attack against Isaf forces instigated by insurgents."
British air support in Helmand Province was the field of responsibility Prince Harry worked in during his recently disclosed period of service in Afghanistan.
I bet he's proud.
From AP.
ReplyDeleteAnger at civilian deaths could lead to a review by the incoming Pakistani government of the country's counterterrorism strategy and its U.S.-backed policy of using military force to root out militants.
A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan said troops used ''precision-guided munitions'' to strike a compound about a mile inside Pakistan on Wednesday, 13th March.
Maj. Chris Belcher said the troops were responding to an ''imminent threat'' and that the coalition informed Pakistani authorities after the strike.
''We received reliable intelligence indicating senior Haqqani network members were in the compound at the time of the strike,'' Belcher said Thursday in Kabul.
In Tangrai, a village of about 40 houses surrounded by fields and mountains, residents led an Associated Press reporter to the rubble of the house hit in the attack. Only one of its four walls was standing amid a tangle of mud bricks, bedding and cooking pots.
''We are innocent, we have nothing to do with such things,'' said Noor Khan, a greengrocer who said the house was his family home.
He said six of his relatives - four women and two boys - died in the attack.
''We are poor people just trying to earn a living,'' he said.