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50 (Taliban) dead in Afghanistan bombing
COALITION warplanes bombed a village in southern Afghanistan overnight, killing about 50 people, the US-led coalition and witnesses said today.The coalition said the 50 were Taliban but residents said civilians were among the dead in the strike in southern Kandahar province. One witness said 26 of his relatives were killed and scores of people were wounded. "I can confirm there was a coalition air strike against a known Taliban stronghold near the village of Azizi in the Panjwayi district and we believe more than 50 Taliban have been killed in the operation," coalition spokesman Major Scott Lundy said. An Afghan intelligence officer confirmed the incident and said that at least 27 people were dead. An AFP correspondent in Kandahar city, 35km east of the bombed area, saw severely wounded people being brought into the city's main hospital in civilian cars. Five men arrived in a minibus with severe wounds apparently caused by fallen rubble. Another young man, his clothes burnt, was admitted with bad burn wounds on his head and face. An elderly man from the village, Attah Mohammad, said at the hospital that 26 members of his family had been killed in the bombing and scores more people were wounded. "They started to bomb our village at midnight and continued up to this morning," he said. Major Lundy could not immediately say how long the air strike lasted. The area was sealed off by foreign and Afghan troops, said Mr Mohammad, who had brought some of his wounded relatives to the hospital. Posted by: phil_b 2006-05-22 |
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