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U.S. Denies an Airstrike Killed 11 Afghan Narcotics Officers U.S. Denies an Airstrike Killed 11 Afghan Narcotics Officers
(35 minutes later)
KABUL, Afghanistan — An American airstrike in southern Afghanistan mistakenly killed at least 11 narcotics officers, Afghan officials said on Monday, but the United States military denied that any such strike had taken place. KABUL, Afghanistan — An American airstrike may have mistakenly killed at least 11 narcotics officers in southern Afghanistan on Sunday night, Afghan officials said on Monday. But the American military denied that such an airstrike had taken place.
The deputy interior minister for counternarcotics, Baz Mohammad Ahmadi, said that 11 officers from his agency were killed on Sunday night and that four were wounded in an airstrike on an official convoy in Garmsir district in Helmand Province. He said in a statement that the convoy was in the middle of an operation to arrest drug smugglers, and that the operation had been coordinated with officials in Kabul, the capital, and with the Helmand provincial government. The deputy interior minister for counternarcotics, Baz Mohammad Ahmadi, said that 11 officers from his agency had been killed and four wounded in an airstrike on an official convoy in the Garmsir District of Helmand Province. In a statement, he said that the convoy had been in the middle of an operation to arrest drug smugglers and that the operation had been coordinated with officials in Kabul and with the Helmand Provincial government.
Mr. Ahmadi did not specify who carried out the airstrike, but Najib Danish, the deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said it was the NATO-led coalition; only American warplanes are known to carry out bombing raids for the coalition. Mr. Ahmadi did not identify who carried out the airstrike. But Najib Danish, the deputy spokesman for Interior Ministry, said it was by the NATO-led military coalition. Only American warplanes have been known to carry out bombing raids for the coalition in Afghanistan this year.
Col. Brian Tribus, a spokesman for the coalition, rebutted the Afghan accounts. “There were no strikes conducted by U.S. or NATO forces in Helmand Province” on Sunday, he said. He did confirm that the coalition had conducted airstrikes on Sunday in Maiwand district in neighboring Kandahar Province. A police official in Garmsir District, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to speak to the press, said the narcotics agents had disguised themselves as Taliban, who work closely with drug smugglers in that area. The officers used cars identical to the Taliban’s and flew the insurgents’ flags on them, he said, which may have fooled American warplanes into attacking. The official put the death toll at 15 officers.
American forces have been carrying out numerous airstrikes against Taliban positions in Helmand Province in the district of Musa Qala, which fell to the Taliban on Aug. 26, but that is in the north of the province, far from Garmsir. Col. Brian Tribus, a spokesman for the coalition, rebutted the Afghan accounts. “There were no strikes conducted by U.S. or NATO forces in Helmand Province on 6 September,” he said. He did confirm that the coalition had conducted airstrikes in Maiwand District of neighboring Kandahar Province that day.
The Americans have been carrying out numerous airstrikes against Taliban positions in northern Helmand Province, in the district of Musa Qala, which fell to the Taliban Aug. 26. But that is far away from Garmsir.
Complicating an already murky picture, the police in neighboring Kandahar Province said they had carried out an attack on a convoy of insurgents in the same general area on Sunday, using their forces to destroy six Taliban trucks, according to Omar Zwak, the spokesman for the Kandahar governor. Mr. Zwak said Helmand officials later expressed concern that some of those trucks may have been those with the narcotics officers, but the Kandahar police denied that. “Police chief of Kandahar Gen. Abdul Raziq rejected the claims of Helmand officials and said they were all insurgents who were targeted,” Mr. Zwak said.