A US-supported Afghan airstrike struck and killed local security personnel aligned with government forces, US forces in Afghanistan said.
The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces carried out the strike Friday in Gereshk District in Helmand province, a huge region in southern Afghanistan. The friendly Afghan forces “were gathered in a compound” at the time, US forces said.
“We would like to express our deepest condolences to the families affected by this unfortunate incident,” US forces said in a statement. “We have notified Afghan officials of this incident. An investigation will be conducted to determine the specific circumstances that led to this incident.”
Omar Zwak, a Helmand province spokesman, said an airstrike targeting militants killed several security forces. But he said the number of those killed and “who did the airstrike are under investigation.”
Friendly fire attacks, when forces are accidentally struck by their own side, and insider attacks, when members of Afghan security forces deliberately target the troops, have occurred on occasion during the long Afghan conflict.
Militant groups such as the Taliban, the Haqqani network and ISIS, foes of the Afghan forces, have posed a stiff challenge in the war.
Afghan and US forces launched an offensive against ISIS in early March. Gen. John Nicholson, commander of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, has pledged to drive the terror group out of the country by the end of 2017.
Unlike elsewhere in Afghanistan, where US troops primarily serve a training and supporting role, US Special Operations Forces have been directly engaged in the offensive against ISIS in Afghanistan, conducting raids and strikes in the country’s eastern provinces.