A group of Baghlan residents staged a rally in the city of Pul-e-Khumri to protest civilian casualties in a recent airstrike by government forces.

The residents claimed that an Army helicopter bombarded parts of the outskirts of Pule-e-Khumri in which seven members of one family were killed and another was wounded.

“Provincial governor, police chief, and NDS director are unaware that foreigners are coming and conducting airstrikes. We want them to resign from their posts,” said Khan Mohammad Ahmadzai, a Baghlan resident.

“The foreigners targeted civilian homes, but the Taliban's locations are very clear. The war is in one place and the airstrikes are taking place somewhere else entirely,” said Qari Hakim, a Baghlan resident.

Local officials confirmed the airstrike but said that there is a need for investigation about civilian casualties in the incident.

The provincial governor Ahmad Farid Basim said that “seven members of one family were killed in the airstrike”.

He said that at least ten Taliban members were “hiding” close to the house which was affected in the airstrike. “I have assigned a team to probe the incident,” he said.

The governor did not make it clear whether Afghan or foreign forces conducted the airstrike.

The Ministry of Defense has not commented on the report.