The U.N. on Monday confirmed that 10 children were among at least 13 civilians killed in a recent U.S. military airstrike in northern Afghanistan. The U.S., which confirmed the killing of two U.S. service members, carried out an airstrike in the area, and accused the Taliban of using civilian areas as hideouts. The intensified violence in the country has had a toll on civilians
Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah says that Taliban militants and regular Afghans want foreign forces to leave Afghanistan, but that the troops need to stay “until the war is over and peace is restored.” In an interview with RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan in Kabul on March 11, he discussed the talks between representatives of the Taliban and the United States as part of an envisioned Afghan reconciliation process