Afghan police: NATO airstrike kills civilians

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Afghan officials say an apparent NATO airstrike has killed 15 people, nine of them civilians, including women and children in an eastern province where the Taliban are strong. NATO, however, says 10 insurgents were killed.

Kunar province police chief Abdul Habib Sayed Khaili says the airstrike hit a pickup truck soon after three Arab and three Afghan militants boarded it Saturday evening. He said some reports called it a drone strike. But NATO spokeswoman 1st Lt. AnnMarie Annicelli said Sunday that it was a precision airstrike that killed 10 “enemy forces” and that she had no reports of civilians dying. Civilian deaths in NATO operations have long been a sore point between Afghanistan and the U.S.-led troops here.