The situation in Afghanistan has become more volatile than ever with reports of Afghan children being killed by NATO airstrikes. On April 7, 2013, Al Jazeera has reported, NATO airstrike kills Afghan children. At least 18 people, including 11 children, have been killed in NATO overnight airstrikes in Kunar province, during a joint operation
between Afghan and NATO troops against Taliban fighters. Other news agencies have reported on different numbers of Afghans killed.
Wasifullah Wasifi, the spokesman for the Kunar governor, has said, "We confirm a raid done by Afghanistan's intelligence service in the district of Shigal. In this raid, the security forces killed 20 Taliban in which 10 of them are very senior Taliban members." But, district officials told Al Jazeera that 11 children were killed in the airstrike in Shigal and Reuters news agency has reported six Taliban fighters were among those killed in the airstrikes. Civilian deaths have been a long-running source of serious friction between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his international supporters.
The Washington Post has reported on an Associated Press story, Afghan government says NATO airstrike kills 11 children during bloody week in Afghanistan. Officials said on Sunday that a fierce battle between U.S.-backed Afghan forces and Taliban militants in a remote corner of eastern Afghanistan has left nearly 20 people dead, including 11 Afghan children who were killed in an airstrike and an American civilian adviser. This has been one of the bloodiest weeks of the nearly 12-year-old war, with reports insurgents ambushed a courthouse in the relatively safe west, killing more than 46 people on Wednesday.
