Errant US drone strike kills dozens of farmers in Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s defence ministry and a senior US official in Kabul confirmed the drone strike but did not share details of civilian casualties.

According to the United Nations, at least 3,812 Afghan civilians were killed or wounded in the first half of 2019 in the war against militant groups, with a big increase in the number of casualties caused by government and foreign forces.

Air strikes by US and government forces killed 363 people and injured 156 others, and of those casualties 150 were children, according to the UN report. Of those 519 casualties, just over four of every five were caused by the international forces.

The United States under the counter-terrorism operation in Afghanistan continues to conduct air strikes against the Islamist Taliban insurgents and the Islamic State group fighters.

Separate attacks claimed by the Taliban killed scores on Tuesday, including a blast at an election rally for President Ashraf Ghani that left 26 people dead. A second attack targeting an army base in central Kabul killed 22 people.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS and AP)