Children among five Afghans killed in NATO airstrike

JALALABAD: At least five civilians, including three children, were killed overnight in a NATO airstrike in eastern Afghanistan, officials said Saturday.

The civilians, aged between 12 and 20, were killed while they were out hunting birds in the area of Saracha, a few kilometres from Jalalabad city, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province, provincial police spokesman Hazrat Hussain Mashreqiwal told.

A NATO spokesman said he was aware of the airstrike but could not confirm any casualties.

"Last night around 11 pm, five civilians aged between 12 and 20 carrying air guns wanted to go hunting birds some eight kilometres (five miles) from the centre of the city of Jalalabad. They were targeted and killed by a foreign forces airstrike," Mashreqiwal said.

Their bodies were brought to the central hospital, he said.

Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, a provincial spokesman, confirmed the incident.

"Three of the civilians killed in the airstrike were school children, two were brothers," Mohammad Atif Shinwari a spokesman for the Nangarhar education department told.