Afghan Officials, NATO Differ Over Air-Strike Casualties

Afghan and NATO officials have differed over whether an air strike in eastern Nangarhar Province targeted and killed five civilians.

Provincial police spokesman Hazrat Hussain Mashreqiwal said on October 5 that the five victims were a group of friends, aged 12 and 20, who were out hunting birds with air guns in the area of Saracha, a few kilometers from Jalalabad city, the provincial capital.

The U.S.-led coalition says the strike late on October 4 targeted insurgents near an airport used by NATO forces and that its initial reports indicate no civilian casualties.

Based on reporting by AFP and AP