By KUNA,
Kabul : Eight Afghan civilians were among the 33 people killed in a coalition forces’ air strike in southern Afghanistan, the military said on Monday.
A statement from the coalition forces’ Bagram base said the civilians were taken hostage by the militants at a compound where they (militants) retreated after exchange of fire with the soldiers.
The military said the incident happened in Khas district of Uruzgan province where the militants attacked the coalition forces from several compounds and then fled into a neighbouring building where they had held 11 non-combatants hostage.
Quoting an anonymous witness, the coalition forces said the civilians tried to escape the compound, but the militants beat them and refused to let them leave.
Coalition troops called air support to target the militants. A bomb was dropped on the building resulting in killing of eight civilians.
The statement said the coalition forces had no information that the militants had held civilians in the same building.
Later, civilians who sustained injuries in the fighting were give medical assistance by the coalition troops, said the statement.
Earlier, the coalition forces had informed about the hard landing of its helicopter in the same province. The military said there were no casualties in the incident.