US airstrikes kill 45 Afghan civilians

An investigation into US-led airstrikes that slammed into Afghan homes where Taliban fighters sought shelter found that 62 insurgents and 45 civilians were killed, two Afghan officials said today.

An investigating team was sent to Helmand province’s Gereshk district, where fighting took place between insurgents and Western forces late on Friday, said Dur Ali Shah, the mayor of Gereshk, and Mohammad Hussein Andewal, the provincial police chief.