Al-Jazeera correspondent in Afghanistan quoted an Afghan security source as saying that eight civilians were killed yesterday, including five women, in an air strike carried out by the American and Afghan forces in Balkh province (north of the country).
The Afghan Ministry of Defense announced the start of a combing operation in the state two days ago with the aim of expelling Taliban militants from it.
The raid comes just before the arrival of Afghan National Security Adviser Hamadullah Moheb in Balkh province to assess the security situation in the northern states.
In the past few years, dozens of Afghans have been killed in American raids that mistakenly targeted civilian areas during US forces' military operations, either individually or jointly with their Afghan counterparts.
Security guards
In Jowzjan state (northern Afghanistan), eight security guards were killed in an attack by Taliban militants on their headquarters in the Mentugai region.
Anatolia news agency quoted Balkh province's security director as saying that two of the attackers were also killed during the clashes.
It is noteworthy that the Taliban movement controls large areas in Afghanistan, and it has been locked for months in negotiations in the Qatari capital, Doha, with the United States for peace with it, and the movement said yesterday that these negotiations approached a crucial stage.