Officials say 12 children were killed and several others wounded in an airstrike on a mosque in Afghanistan’s northern Takhar province on Thursday.
The strike occurred on Wednesday afternoon in Baharak district, where Taliban fighters had killed over 40 Afghan security forces in the early morning, provincial councilor Mohammad Azam Afzali told dpa.
The provincial governor spokesman also confirmed the report.
An aircraft bombarded the mosque after receiving information that Taliban fighters who were involved in the hours-before bloody attack on security forces were hiding there, Afzali added.
However the militants had already left the mosque, Afzali and another security source said.
The violence in Afghanistan comes inspite of ongoing peace talks between the representatives of the government and the Taliban in the Gulf State of Qatar that kicked off last month.
The insurgents have so far refused to accept a ceasefire. Experts expect long and tough negotiations before a ceasefire could be agreed upon.
Meanwhile, the conflict across the country continues.
For more than a week now there has been heavy fighting in southern Afghanistan.
Authorities said 100 civilians have died and tens of thousands of people have been driven from their villages.(dpa/NAN)
