A US military investigation found that a November airstrike targeting the Taliban in northern Afghanistan's Kunduz province killed 33 civilians, US forces said on Thursday.

    Twenty-seven civilians were wounded in the village of Boz in Kunduz city, the statement said, adding that the airstrike was called as US and Afghan forces "returned fire in self-defense at Taliban who were using civilian houses as firing positions." "Regardless of the circumstances, I deeply regret the loss of innocent lives," General John Nicholson, the top commander of US forces and the NATO mission, was quoted by German news agency (dpa) as saying.

    According to the statement, the operation was launched to capture Taliban commanders responsible for the violence in Kunduz in October when militants captured parts of the city. The civilian deaths created a huge uproar and the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations condemned the airstrike.

    "The loss of civilian life is unacceptable and undermines efforts towards building peace and stability in Afghanistan," Tadamichi Yamamoto, head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said in a statement.

    The US statement said that civilians were killed and wounded because the Taliban were using their houses as launch pads and, additionally, a Taliban weapons cache was struck "which also destroyed multiple civilian buildings and may also have killed civilians."

Source: QNA