At Least 26 Killed In Battle In Eastern Afghanistan

SHIGAL, Afghanistan -- At least 26 people were killed on April 6 during a battle in Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar Province near the border with Pakistan.

Shigal District chief Haji Abdul Zahir Safai told RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan that the dead include 11 children and at least six women, as well as a U.S. civilian adviser and eight Taliban militants.

Safai said Taliban militants attacked U.S. and Afghan troops from the homes of civilians in the Sheltan Valley.

He said the civilians were killed, along with Taliban fighters, when NATO air strikes were called in.

U.S. military spokesman Colonel Thomas Collins confirmed a U.S. civilian adviser was killed and that foreign troops called in NATO air support.

ISAF says the air strikes targeted “insurgent forces in areas away from structures, according to our reporting.”

With reporting by AP and AFP