Afghan military official: Coalition airstrike kills 8 Afghan troops east of

At least 14 Afghan soldiers were killed in a USA airstrike early Monday on an army checkpoint in a Taliban-infested province south of Kabul, officials said.

A US military official in Afghanistan, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said they are aware of an incident in Logar and are investigating it.

Logar police chief Mohammad Douod Ahmadi confirmed the casualty figures, though other Afghan officials gave slightly different numbers.

The air strike in the province’s Baraki Barak district came after five civilians were killed and six others injured in a similar North Atlantic Treaty Organisation attack in Afghanistan in December 2014.

“The checkpoint caught fire… and 10 Afghan army soldiers were killed”, he said.

He also said that checkpoint was not a suspicious area.

Last week Mullah Mohammed Omar, Afghan Taliban leader backed peace talks with the government.

They agreed to meet again in the coming weeks, drawing praise from Islamabad, Beijing, Washington and the United Nations.

This news is significant as friendly soldiers and civilians killed in such encounters prove to be one of the most high-profile and contentious cases in the Afghanistan war, evoking an emotional response from the locals. However, some worldwide fighting units continue to assist Afghan special forces, and the BBC’s Kabul correspondent David Loyn says the helicopters involved in today’s attack are believed to have been engaged in this mission.

The Afghan army does have some attack helicopters.