UN wants probe into death of 15 killed in U.S. bombing mission

The United Nations in Afghanistan said on Thursday that an airstrike in the eastern province of Nangarhar near the Pakistan border killed at least 15 civilians and injured another 13. In a statement, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan called for an independent investigation into the incident, which took place in the Achin district early Wednesday. It said that all the dead were men, and one of the injured is a boy. They were part of a crowd that gathered at the home of a tribal elder to welcome him back from his pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj ritual. The U.S. military told The Associated Press on Wednesday that it had been conducting air operations against Islamic State group loyalists in Achin at the time.