NATO bombs hit civilians, Afghans say

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — NATO warplanes hunting Taliban fighters in eastern Afghanistan mistakenly bombed an Afghan road construction crew sleeping in tents, killing 14 workers, Afghan officials said Wednesday.

If confirmed that NATO hit the wrong target, the incident in mountainous Nuristan province late Monday would be the first major blunder in months. U.S.- and NATO-led forces drew sharp criticism earlier this year for causing civilian casualties that have undermined their reputation among Afghan civilians and hurt Western-backed President Hamid Karzai’s government.

A spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said that its warplanes conducted airstrikes on Taliban fighters in the area Monday night and that a militant leader was targeted.

“ISAF was engaged in Nurgaram and Du Ab [districts], and in those places we used airstrikes” on Taliban fighters, Brig. Gen. Carlos Branco said at a news conference. “The situation is not clear at all at this stage. We are carrying out the investigation and trying to get a clear picture.”

Maj. Charles Anthony, another spokesman for the NATO force, said two bombs were dropped and there was a “strong indication that we got a Taliban leader during the course of the operation.”

In Washington, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said officials believed the strike might have killed the Taliban’s commander for western Nuristan, Abdulla Jan.