- Title: Six Afghan children killed in fighting
- Date: 26th January 2018
- Summary: COFFIN ON TOP OF VAN TWO RELATIVES SITTING BESIDE COFFIN ON TOP OF VAN VEHICLE DRIVING AWAY WITH RELATIVES AND COFFIN ON TOP (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) ABDUL KARIM MATIN, GOVERNOR OF GHAZNI PROVINCE, SAYING: "Unfortunately a number of children and women have been martyred during the fighting here and we have noticed that it was an intentional attack carried out by enemies on houses and mosques in the area to threaten the people." CONVOY OF AFGHAN SECURITY FORCES NEAR SITE OF FIGHTING VARIOUS OF SECURITY PERSONNEL TAKING POSITION, AFGHAN FLAG FLYING IN BACKGROUND VIEW OF AREA WHERE FIGHTING TOOK PLACE BETWEEN AFGHAN FORCES AND TALIBAN
- Embargoed: 9th February 2018 16:29
- Keywords: Afghanistan insurgency Taliban Ghazni children deaths
- Location: GHAZNI, AFGHANISTAN
- City: GHAZNI, AFGHANISTAN
- Country: Afghanistan
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Insurgencies
- Reuters ID: LVA0027ZR2C07
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES
As many as six children were killed in fighting near the central Afghan city of Ghazni on Friday (January 26) but there were conflicting accounts of how they died, with officials blaming the Taliban and others saying they died in an air strike by Afghan forces.
Following high-profile attacks on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul and a compound of the Save the Children aid group in Jalalabad in recent days, the violence in Ghazni highlighted the daily toll on Afghan civilians across the country.
Provincial officials said a Taliban mortar attack struck the village while the children were outside, killing the six and wounding two.
However local people said the children died in an air strike by Afghan security forces, which have been conducting an increasing number of air operations as their fledgling air force has grown over the past year.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the air strike had killed seven civilians, wounded six and destroyed four houses.
A defence ministry official in Kabul said three civilians had been killed in an air strike near Ghazni but it was not clear whether they were children. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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