US drone kills 21 in Afghanistan

Survivor says the house hit was full of people welcoming back elder from Haj

JALALABAD // A drone strike in southern Afghanistan killed at least 21 people yesterday.

Most of the dead were militants but some were possibly civilians, Afghan officials said.

Civilian casualties in US drone raids are a source of friction between the Afghan government and western allies who have been fighting a Taliban- led insurgency since 2001. Malem Mashooq, the governor of Achin district where the attack occurred, said at least three civilians were killed in the attack.

One of the wounded said the attack struck a house where people were sleeping after a gathering to welcome an elder who had returned from Haj.

“I saw dead and wounded bodies everywhere,” Raghon Shinwari said, lying on a hospital bed in Jalalabad city. Mohammed Ali, the Achin district police chief, corroborated his account.

“They were in a house to visit someone who had just come from the Haj pilgrimage,” he said.

“A drone targeted the house and killed most of them.”

Provincial police spokesman Hazrat Mashriqiwal said several ISIL leaders had been killed, but denied there were any civilians among the victims.

A US military spokesman said American forces had conduct- ed a “counter- terrorism” air raid in Achin, but would not discuss details of the target.

“We are aware of some claims of Afghan casualties, and are reviewing all materials related to this strike,” said Brig GenCharles Cleveland.

Determining which victims were civilians and which were militants would not be possible until an investigation was complete, said Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the governor.

ISIL has attracted hundreds, if not thousands, of fighters in Afghanistan and Pakistan to join its ranks, and holds some territory in Nangarhar. Achin was a stronghold for the group.

However, the extremists have not been able to expand their influence in Afghanistan beyond a few districts and the Taliban remain the dominant militant force in the country.

Thousands of US troops remain in Afghanistan, with many recent air raids and special operations missions aimed at ISIL in Nangarhar, but they have also been helping Afghan forces to fight Taliban elsewhere in the country.

Between January and August, American aircraft supplied more than 800 weapons and flew more than 3,500 air support missions in Afghanistan.