Local provincial officials said that eight civilians and six Taliban insurgents were killed by a NATO drone airstrike in eastern Kunar province Saturday night. However, coalition officials refuted claims of there being civilian casualties and the Taliban has rejected reports of any militant casualties.
"The airstrike took place in the Watahpur district of the province yesterday [Saturday] evening, when a NATO drone targeted a civilian passengers' vehicle, travelling from Assad Abad to Watahpur district," said Abdul Aziz Sayedkhili, Provincial Police Chief.
"The incident happened after NATO determined that six Taliban insurgents were inside the car heading to Watahpur district," Mr. Sayedkhili said. "The drone attacked the car killing all passengers."
Meanwhile, officials from the International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) confirmed the airstrike in a statement, but rejected the reports of civilian casualties.
"We are aware of reports of allegations of civilian casualties in Watahpur, Kunar. We take all allegations of civilian casualties seriously. We can confirm the coalition forces' conducted a precision strike yesterday [Saturday] in Watahpur district, Kunar Province, resulting in 10 enemy forces killed," the ISAF statement read.
"At this time, we have no reports of any civilian casualties in regards to this incident. We are continuing to look into the incident and will provide updates as appropriate," the statement concluded.
Further confusing the details of the incident, Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman of the Taliban, denied there being any insurgent casualties in the air strike.
"NATO targeted a civilian passengers' vehicle, killing civilians including women and children," Mr. Mujahid said.
It is not uncommon for accounts of incidents, whether they be coalition and Afghan security forces operations or insurgent attacks, to provide vastly differing reports. Commonly, coalition and Afghan security forces provide higher figures of insurgent casualties and lower civilian casualties than the Taliban does in cases of their own operations. The Taliban rarely, if ever, acknowledges civilian casualties resulting from their attacks.
Wataphur district is one of the most restive districts in the Kunar province where insurgents have frequently targeted local security forces and government officials.