Nato air strike ‘kills Afghan family’

A Nato air strike has killed eight members of a family in the eastern Afghan province of Paktia, local officials say.

A provincial spokesman said a couple and their six children died in an air strike on Saturday in the village of Suri Khail, Gurda Saria district. Nato says it is investigating the reports. Earlier, the alliance said four of its soldiers had died in separate bomb attacks in Afghanistan on Saturday.

‘No Taliban link’

Paktia provincial spokesman Rohullah Samoon told AFP news agency: “It was an air strike conducted by Nato. “This man [the father] had no connection to the Taliban or any other terrorist group.” Nato spokesman Lt Col Jimmie Cummings acknowledged that coalition forces had been conducting an operation in Paktia province “against a large number of insurgents” on Saturday night. He said the alliance was aware of the reports of civilian deaths and was investigating them.

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