Kabul: NATO-led forces in Afghanistan said on Monday they had mistakenly killed a group of children in an air strike that has enraged the government, and said their deaths may have been linked to an anti-insurgent operation in the area.
The air strike took place last Wednesday near the village of Giawa, in eastern Kapisa province.
The children were killed as NATO aircraft and ground forces attacked insurgents on open ground in the Najrab district of Kapisa, according to NATO.
"At this point in our assessment we can neither confirm nor deny, with reasonable assurance, a direct link to the engagement. Nonetheless, any death of innocents not associated with armed conflict is a tragedy,” Jacobson said.
Afghan government officials showed gruesome photographs of eight dead boys, and said seven of them had been aged between six and 14, while one had been around 18 years old.
They were bombed twice while herding sheep in heavy snow and lighting a fire to keep warm, they said.
“Where were the rights for these children who have been violated? Did they have rights or not? Did they have rights to live as part of the world community?” said Mohammad Tahir Safi, a member of parliament sent by president Hamid Karzai to investigate the strike.
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