US drone strike claims eight lives in eastern Afghanistan

At least eight people have been killed in a US drone attack in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nangarhar.

Hazrat Hussain Mashriqiwal, a spokesman for the Nangarhar provincial police department, said the unmanned aerial vehicle fired a missile at a compound in Sherzad district of the province, situated about 90 kilometers (50 miles) east of the capital, Kabul, at around 1:00 p.m. local time (0830 GMT) on Monday.

He further noted that the assault targeted a Taliban hideout and those killed in the airstrike were members of the militant group.

On November 27, a drone attack in the troubled southern province of Helmand left at least seven people dead. A similar attack in the Chak district of Afghanistan’s central-eastern province of Maidan Wardak killed three people earlier in the day.

On November 19, at least four people lost their lives when US forces mounted a drone strike in the Ghaziabad district of the northeastern province of Kunar.

Civilian casualties have long been a source of friction between the Afghan government and the US-led forces, and have dramatically increased anti-US sentiments in the country.

The United States carries out targeted killings through drone strikes in a number of Muslim countries, such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen.

Washington claims the targets of the drone attacks are militants, but local officials and witnesses maintain that civilians have been the main victims of such airstrikes over the past few years.