US soldiers kill 3 Afghan civilians, officials allege

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) - U.S. Army soldiers allegedly shot dead three Afghan civilians on Monday, the district governor confirmed.

The soldiers opened fire at a car when their convoy hit a roadside bomb at the Golayee area of the Ghani Khel district, in eastern Nangarhar province.

“Following the landmine blast, the soldiers fired at a car carrying a father and his two sons, who died on the spot,” Abdul Wahab, Ghani Khel district governor told Anadolu Agency.

The deceased were brick kiln workers.

The U.S. Forces in Afghanistan have not commented on the incident so far.

In the same province on Saturday, a Taliban infiltrator in the Afghan Army shot two U.S. soldiers dead, before he was killed in an exchange of fire.

The incident took place in the restive Achin district, where the U.S. and Afghan forces have launched an intensive operation against Daesh rebels.

On the same day, two members of the Afghan Border Police were killed in a U.S. friendly fire that also killed 17 Taliban militants in southern Helmand province.

Confirming the incident, the U.S forces promised an investigation into the incident.

Such deadly incidents of friendly fire and civilian casualties in Afghanistan seriously undermine the credibility of the Afghan forces as well as their international allies, particularly the U.S.

In September last year, the U.S. forces hit a residential complex in eastern Nangarhar province, killing 18 people who had gathered to welcome a local elder from the Hajj pilgrimage.

A U.S. Air Force gunship attacked a trauma center operated by international group Doctors Without Borders on Oct. 3, 2015 in Kunduz, killing at least 42 including medical staff, and injuring more than 30.