US-led airstrike kills 15 in Afghanistan

US-led airstrike kills 15 in Afghanistan

At least 15 people have been killed in an airstrike carried out by US-led foreign forces in Afghanistan’s southeast, Press TV reports.

The deadly attack took place on Thursday in the province of Paktika, Afghan officials said, claiming that the victims were members of the Taliban militant group.

The Taliban, however, have made no comments on the incident so far.

On May 14, three people lost their lives in a US drone attack in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nangarhar while a similar attack in the same province on May 7 killed at least seven people.

On April 30, three people were killed by US drones in Asad Abbad Village in the country’s northeastern province of Kunar.

Afghan police officials said a US assassination drone attack also left two people dead in northeastern Afghanistan on April 22.

The US carries out targeted killings through drone strikes in several Muslim nations such as Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia.

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

The United Nations says the assassination drone strikes are “targeted killings” that flout international law.

The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity continues to rise across the country, despite the presence of tens of thousands of US-led troops.