An air strike appears to have killed 12 members of an Afghan family, most of them children, the United Nations said, citing preliminary findings, as US and Afghan forces ramp up aerial bombardments against militants.
The victims, including 10 children aged six to 15 and two women, died on Sunday night when an “aerial ordnance” destroyed their house in a village in Wardak province, near Kabul, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said in a statement in evening on Tuesday.
The findings support earlier comments from provincial council member Ahmad Jahfari, who told AFP that 12 members of a family had been killed in an air strike targeting Taliban fighters.
It is not clear if the air strike in Wardak was carried out by US or Afghan forces.
Air strikes killed or wounded 353 civilians in the first half, up 52 per cent from the same period in 2017.
The government and military said it had targeted a Taliban base where senior members of the group were planning attacks.
