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Airstrikes on a Taliban base in northeast Afghanistan have killed at least a dozen civilians, according to local officials.
The twin Afghan The air force attacks in Kunduz occur when the country’s government and the Taliban hold talks to reach a peace agreement.
Provincial officials and a Taliban spokesperson said at least 12 civilians were killed and more than 10 injured.
A spokesman for the Defense Ministry said more than 40 Taliban fighters were also killed in the attacks. They did not confirm whether there were any civilian deaths, but said an investigation was underway.
The Taliban did not confirm whether there were any casualties among their fighters.
Fatima Aziz, a member of parliament representing Kunduz, said: “The first attack hit the Taliban base, but the second caused civilian casualties when they had gathered at the bombed site.”
Earlier this year, the United Nations reported that the Afghan military was behind the killing of at least 23 civilians, including children, when it missed a Taliban target and hit a cattle market with mortars.
Afghanistan and the Taliban hold peace talks in Doha, Qatar, where the Taliban maintain a political office.
The talks are aimed at ending decades of war with the Taliban, whose government was toppled by the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
There are profound ideological differences between the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan, which has had a constitutional commitment since 2004 to civil and human rights.
