French attack kills 5 Afghan civilians

Mon Jun 20, 2011 5:15AM

A truck carrying bodies of people who are said to have been killed by NATO airstrikes in Afghanistan's Lashkar Gah in Helmand province. (file photo)

At least five people have been killed and several others left wounded in a French missile attack on a school in Kapisa Province in central Afghanistan.

According to Afghan media, the French rocket attack on a school in Kapisa Province's Tagab district claimed the lives of at least five people, including four students and a principal, and injured several other students and teachers on Sunday, a Press TV correspondent reports. 

A member of the Kapisa provincial council has also confirmed the attack. 

The Afghan government and local sources, however, say that only the school's principal was killed and seven people, including two teachers and five students, were injured in the attack. 

The French forces and NATO are yet to comment on the incident. 

Hundreds of civilians have lost their lives in US-led airstrikes and ground operations in various parts of Afghanistan over the past few months, with Afghans becoming increasingly outraged over the seemingly endless number of deadly assaults. 

US-led forces in Afghanistan regularly launch attacks on alleged militant hideouts, but the strikes usually result in civilian casualties.