Updated April 03, 2018 13:46:26

Photo: An Afghan man is treated at a hospital following an airstrike in the Kunduz province of northern Afghanistan. (AP)

An Afghan forces air strike on a suspected Taliban gathering in the northern province of Kunduz has caused dozens of casualties, including many civilians, officials say.

The precise number of people killed in the strike, in the Dasht-e Archi district outside Kunduz city, varies in different reports. According to the New York Times, as many as 70 were killed.

However Reuters reported a local police official, Abdul Hameed Hameedi, as saying 15 were killed and 10 wounded.

The strike targeted a gathering of Taliban fighters preparing for an operation. A representative from the Taliban leadership council based in the Pakistani city of Quetta was visiting at the time, he said.

He said there were also civilian casualties but he had no further details.

Local people said the strike hit a mosque and large numbers of civilians were killed and wounded.

Dasht-e Archi has been largely under the control of Taliban fighters.

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However health officials in Kunduz city said five deceased people and 40 wounded had been brought into city hospitals.

A statement from the Taliban said the strike killed 150 religious scholars and civilians and denied that any of its forces were present.

"There is no truth in this claim by the enemy that members of the Islamic Emirate were present at the ceremony or that members of the Taliban Council went there," the statement said.

Army Colonel Lisa Garcia, United States Forces-Afghanistan spokesperson, said US forces had not carried out any attacks in the area.

"US Forces-Afghanistan did not conduct air strikes in Kunduz province today. Any claims to the contrary are baseless," she said in an emailed statement.

The incident nonetheless underlined one of the risks of the greater use of air power under the new US strategy announced last year to try to force the Taliban to the negotiating table.

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Building up the fledgling Afghan Air Force (AAF) has been a major priority for the NATO-led Resolute Support training and advisory mission in Afghanistan and the AAF has had increasing success in supporting ground forces.

But civilian casualties caused by the air strikes have risked undermining public support for the campaign.

Recent figures from the United Nations showed a rise in the number of civilian casualties caused by air strikes even while the total number of civilian casualties had declined.

Reuters

Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, world-politics, afghanistan

First posted April 03, 2018 13:27:19