Deadly fighting flares in Afghanistan
U.S. airstrike reportedly kills at least 30 civilians; Taliban hit Kabul security firm
KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban insurgents staged a coordinated attack targeting a security firm in the Afghan capital on Wednesday, killing at least 10 people and wounding 19 others, as the U.S. said an airstrike hours earlier in Helmand province that reportedly killed civilians was conducted by American aircraft.
Wednesday’s attack in eastern Kabul took place when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives, and other insurgents started a gunbattle with security forces in the area, Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said.
The assault came hours after provincial officials said at least 30 civilians were killed along with 16 Taliban fighters during the overnight battle between Afghan government forces and insurgents in southern Helmand province.
A local official, Attahullah Afghan, said most of the civilian casualties — which included men, women and children — came when an airstrike hit a house in the central Helmand River valley, a Taliban heartland. U.S. officials said it happened in Helmand’s Garmsir district.
A U.S. military spokesman in Kabul said the airstrike was carried out by American aircraft called in to back Afghan “special security forces” after they came under heavy Taliban fire.
Maj. Bariki Mallya, the spokesman, said in an email exchange that the airstrike was conducted in self-defense after Taliban fighters armed with rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns retreated into a compound and continued firing on Afghan government forces and their American advisers.
“In self-defense, the ground force called an airstrike,” Mallya said. “After the strike, there were secondary explosions, we assess from explosives inside the compound. At the time of the strike, the ground force was unaware of any civilians in or around the compound; they only knew that the Taliban were using the building as a fighting position.”
Mallya declined to say what the U.S. knew about civilian casualties or whether the incident was under U.S. investigation. In a prepared statement, he said the U.S. investigates every “credible allegation of error and reviews every mission to learn, adapt and improve.”
A statement from the governor’s office in Helmand confirmed that 16 Taliban insurgents were killed and said that an investigation was underway to determine the number of civilian casualties.
It said the militants had stockpiled ammunition in the area of the operation, which could have caused civilian casualties. There was also a car packed with explosives that ignited during the strike, the statement added.
Abdul Wadod Popul, a lawmaker from Helmand, also confirmed the civilian casualties. “The area is under Taliban’s control and is very difficult to get a precise number of casualties,” he said in Kabul.
The resurgent Taliban, who in recent years have taken over nearly half of Afghanistan, claimed the attack Wednesday in Kabul.
Kabul police spokesman Basir Mujahid said the target of the attack was a security company called G4S. He had no details on the company, but the website of a multinational security company named G4S has London contact information.
The fighting came as top diplomats from Russia, the United States and the European Union united Wednesday in support for the Afghan president’s efforts to stabilize his war-battered nation.
At a U.N.-backed conference in Geneva, President Ashraf Ghani said he wanted to “specifically recognize the commitment in blood and treasure that the United States has shown since 2001” in Afghanistan.
Ghani called the U.S. its “key ally” and praised President Donald Trump’s South Asia policy as a “game changer” for Afghanistan.
The Geneva meeting aims to take stock of the Afghan government’s use of billions of dollars in foreign aid for education, health care, humanitarian support and needs since 2016.
David Hale, the U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, urged all to seize the opportunity to move toward peace.
“Today we reaffirm our commitment to the Afghan people,” he said, noting that Ghani’s initiative was among “encouraging signs.”
Ghani presented his government’s efforts in areas such as security, justice, women’s rights and anti-corruption.
“We have a plan for reform, and we need your support to help implement it,” he told the conference. “Does this mean that we have eliminated corruption? Absolutely not. We want it to happen faster, but meaningful change cannot be rushed.”
Afghanistan is among the most corrupt countries in the world and last year, Transparency International ranked it 177th out of 180 countries. The corruption monitoring agency said the Afghan government’s anti-corruption efforts had been insufficient. The country’s overall score was a dismal 15 out of 100.
The United States has spent nearly $1 trillion on the war in Afghanistan, nearly $800 billion of which was spent on America’s own troops there and also Afghanistan’s National Security Forces. The U.S. has committed roughly $4 billion annually for the next several years toward financing those forces.