8 Policemen Dead in US Airstrikes in Uruzgan

Eight Afghan policemen were killed by two U.S. airstrikes in southern Uruzgan province of Afghanistan, local security officials said on Monday.

According to the security officials the bombings took place on Sunday afternoon in Tage area of Tarinkot city.

Two airstrikes were carried out, said Rahimullah Khan, commander of operations at Kandahar – Uruzgan highway.

He added that the first attack targeted a policeman and the second one killed another seven policemen after they gathered where the incident had happened.

The policemen were in charge of providing security for Kandahar – Uruzgan highway.

Reportedly, an investigation is underway right now to find out if it was accidental or as a result of poor coordination between U.S. and Afghan forces.

Resolute Support (RS) mission officials have not made a comment about the report yet.

But a Taliban spokesman claimed the attacks were carried out based on the request from General Raziq, the powerful police chief of Kandahar province of Afghanistan.

Uruzgan is a province in south of Afghanistan where the Taliban has in recent months pushed an aggressive offensive against Afghan forces aiming to capture the province.