Afghans protest civilian deaths in alleged US air raid

By Shadi Khan Saif</p> <p>KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) – Carrying dead bodies, residents of Afghanistan’s Kunduz province on Saturday protested a deadly air raid in the war-ravaged country allegedly committed but denied by U.S. forces.</p> <p>Accusing the the Taliban of deliberately hiding among civilians and spreading propaganda to hide their losses, the U.S. Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A) has said it is investigating the reported civilian deaths.</p> <p>But Kunduz residents said the Friday night air raid killed 13 civilians, including women and children, in the province’s Tolaka area.</p> <p>Chanting slogans against the foreign troops, the evidently devastated protesters said the air raid targeted two residential homes where no insurgents were present.</p> <p>The allegations come a day after two U.S. soldiers were killed during an anti-terrorism operation in the same vicinity.</p> <p>Debra Richardson, spokeswoman for the NATO-led Resolute Support mission, said in a statement that a combined Afghan and coalition ground force was fired on by an unknown assailant at close range, and in self-defense the airstrikes were called, but no bombs were used.</p> <p>Over the past two years Kunduz has twice fallen briefly to the Taliban.</p> <p>With a record 3,804 civilians killed in Afghanistan conflict in 2018 — a clear indicator of stepped-up violence — the UN last month urged the need to seize opportunities for peace. </p> <p>Among the dead were 927 children, the highest recorded number of boys and girls killed in the conflict during a single year.</p> <p>