Children among 24 civilians killed in Afghan air strike

Government air strikes in the north of Afghanistan have killed 24 civilians, including children, and wounded six others, witnesses have reported.

Two witnesses said most of those killed in Saturday’s air strikes, which struck the village of Say ed Ram az an in northern Kunduz province, were civilians.

The Khanabad district in the province where the village is located is Taliban-controlled.

The Afghan defence ministry said the air strike skilled 30 Taliban fighters, but added an investigation has begun into claims that civilians were among those killed.

The air strikes came as Taliban and government-appointed negotiators are meeting for the first time in Qatar to discuss the future of Afghanistan and an end to decades of war and conflict.

Villagers said an initial air strike targeted a house belonging to a Taliban fighter, whose home doubled as a checkpoint that stops and searches people to ensure they are not connected to the government.

The explosion set fire to a nearby home, trapping a family inside, said Latif Rahmani, who witnessed the air strikes.

Mr R ahmani said farmers and villagers ran to douse the fire and rescue trapped family members inside when a second air strike hit, killing many of them.

Mr R ahmani, who said he was working on his house at the time of the air strike, warned his neighbours against running towards the burning buildings for fear of a second air strike.

“I yelled at people and told them not to go because maybe there would be another bombing, but they ran to help and to put out the fire,” Mr Rahmani said.

A second witness in the area, Kalamuddin, who uses just one name, said the lone Taliban fighter living in the house that was initially hit had been killed. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Muja hid condemned the air strikes and said the terrorists had no military operations in the area at the time.

The United Nations has harshly criticised both sides in the conflict for the relentless killing of civilians in Afghanistan’s protracted war.

The peace talks in Qatar are part of a US-arranged deal with the Taliban that will eventually lead to the with - draw al of American troops from Afghanistan.

In early July, Afghan national army soldiers fired mortars into a busy market in southern Helmand, killing 23 people.

The defence ministry is still investigating the incident.

Also on Saturday, at least six rockets were fired at Nato’s Resolute Support base in southern Kandahar. No casualties were reported.

Na to said the rocket fire could jeopardise the US peace deal in which the Taliban has promised not to attack US and Nato forces.