World News | Group Demands Release of Person Who Reported Afghan Strike

Kabul, Oct 23 (AP) A prominent rights group Friday demanded the release of a person detained by the government for allegedly providing information to media outlets about an army airstrike this week in which 12 civilians, mostly children, were killed and 18 others wounded.

The order to arrest at least one person accused of speaking about the Wednesday strike in northern Takhar province was made by Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh on Thursday.

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He tweeted that “the person responsible for the spread of this venomous & fake news was arrested immediately.” Saleh “is trying to silence those who reported a potentially unlawful airstrike that killed civilians, including many children,” said Human Rights Watch Associate Asia Director Patricia Gossman. She demanded an impartial investigation into the airstrike.

A recent increase in violence nationwide comes as Afghan government representatives and the Taliban are holding peace talks in Qatar, where the Taliban have for years maintained a political office. The negotiations, envisaged under a U.S. deal signed with the insurgents in February, are meant to end Afghanistan's grueling 19-year war and are seen as the country's best chance at peace.

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Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission in a statement Friday said initial reports show that Afghan forces launched an airstrike Wednesday on a mosque that killed 12 children and wounded 18 others, including a cleric who was teaching the children. The statement said the airstrike happened when a Taliban convoy passed by the mosque.

The government has not said whether there were any Taliban fighters in the vicinity of a mosque in which several children were studying when Wednesday's attack took place.

Saleh in a tweet said a Taliban sniper unit that was responsible for killing Afghan special forces was the target of the airstrike. The Defense Ministry said at least 12 Taliban fighters were killed in the airstrike, adding that the reports about civilian casualties would be investigated. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)