US strike targeting Taliban commander causes civilian casualties

More than 60 civilians were killed or wounded in a US drone attack targeting a top Taliban splinter-group commander in the western Afghanistan province of Herat, local officials said.

The Taliban commander, named as Mullah Nangyalay, was killed in Shindand district close to the border with Iran, Herat provincial governor’s spokesman Jailani Farhad said on Thursday.

“According to the people, over 60 civilians were killed and wounded in the operation,” Toryalai Tahiri, deputy head of Herat provincial council, told Afghan local media TOLO News.

Quoting Wakil Ahmad Karkhi, a member of the Herat provincial council, TOLO News reported “civilians have been killed and wounded alongside Mullah Nangyalai’s fighters” in an American attack on Wednesday.