JALALABAD - Several people were killed and wounded when a drone strike hit a funeral ceremony in Haska Mina district of eastern Nangarhar province on Sunday, an official said.
District administrative chief, Sazoli Shinwari, told Pajhwok Afghan News the incident took place in Mariz Kandaw area of the district around 3pm today.
He said a funeral ceremony for a deceased local tribal elder was being offered when all of a sudden an unmanned aircraft fired missiles on the participants.
Sixteen Daesh or so-called Islamic State (IS) rebels and eight civilians including children were killed and a number of people were injured in the strike, he said.
Daesh militants were firing at security forces from near the funeral and the drone targeted them later, Shinwari said.
Nangarhar Zonal Hospital director, Dr. Ehsanullah Shinwari, said six injured people had been delivered at the hospital from the incident.
He said three of the injured were discharged after receiving initial treatment.
One of the injured, Chaman Gul, from his hospital bed told Pajhwok Afghan News that the funeral ceremony for a local tribal elder, Haji Aman, was ongoing when they came under airstrike.
He said dozens of people had gathered to attend the funeral, but he was unaware about how many killed or wounded.
Sayed Shinwari, a resident of the area, said his uncle and one of his cousins were killed in the drone strike and a number of people were still believed to be buried under rabbles.
NATO’s Resolute Support (RS) mission spokesman Bill Salvin in a statement said they were aware of the report regarding civilian casualties in Nangarhar. "We take all allegations of civilian casualties seriously and we will convene an inquiry to investigate.”
Meanwhile, he confirmed the airstrike but said it was against armed insurgents. "We have no indications that civilians were in the area either before the strike or after the strike," the spokesman said. "However, we will investigate the allegation." (Pajhwok)