NATO air strike kills 17 Afghans

Kabul, June 6 (IANS) An air strike by NATO-led forces at a Taliban hideout late Tuesday killed 17 people in Afghanistan, including a militant commander named Qari Sardar, officials said Wednesday.

The air raids took place in Sajawand village of Baraki Barak district in Logar province, 60 km south of Kabul, Xinhua reported.

District governor Sayed Wakil Agha said NATO aircraft pounded the house of a tribal elder named Sayed Bashir Akhundzada, killing 17 people inside, including Akhundzada.

Logar province police chief Raes Khan Sadiq said the air raid took place when Sardar and some of his men were inside the house. Six other Taliban militants were killed.

The NATO alliance said in a statement that security forces discovered two women who had sustained non-life-threatening injuries. It said they provided medical assistance and transported both women to a medical facility for treatment.