On Thursday, local officials reported that an Afghan airstrike targeting the Taliban accidentally killed 12 children in a school building. The Afghan government has been combatting a wave of Taliban attacks threatening Kabul and its ability to maintain security following the withdrawal of US troops. Although the Afghan Ministry of Defense claimed all victims were Taliban militants (or the children of), an investigation into the airstrike will occur.
The airstrike happened on Wednesday morning in the northern province of Takhar. The strike was a response to two synchronous ambushes carried out by the Taliban in the same region the previous day in which at least 44 government security forces were killed. Unfortunately, the Afghan air force took the religious school in which the children were located for a Taliban hideout, according to Takhar civilians. Local media reports that all twelve casualties were children, while 18 other civilians were injured.
