At least 24 security workers who were employed at a construction site in Afghanistan's Ghazni province have been killed during an air raid.
There were approximately 24 security workers killed it what is an apparent United States air raid.
The workers
were employed at a construction site in Afghanistan's Ghazni province.
The deputy governor of the province called Sunday's incident a "brutal attack".
A provincial government source stated that US-led forces had called in an air raid because fighters attacked several posts operated by the security company that guards the road construction project.
The US military has confirmed it called in the aerial bombardment when its forces came under fire, but cannot yet confirm the identity of the victims.
A few days ago the Afghan government said an attack by US-led forces killed nine Afghan soldiers in the southeastern province of Khost.
This year hundreds of civilians have been killed in operations by Nato and US-led international forcesaccording to Afghan officials and aid groups.
"During the last few weeks and months there have been bombardments in Khost, Herat and Helmand, where there were civilian casualties," Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra said.
"The Americans are saying constantly that they are very shrewd, very meticulous when it comes to bombarding such sites ... but the people say they have seen many, many cases where the targets were not Taliban fighters."
A Taliban spokesman has claimed that 17 people working on a road construction project had been abducted in the eastern province of Kunar.
Also, the Taliban has reportedly said that it will only free the captives once the construction project, which is funded by the US, is abandoned.
The attacks by Taliban fighters have have increased in recent months and the United Nations has warned people not to expect the usual lull in violence over the winter months.
