Russia says it was not behind air strike in northern Afghanistan

Tajik or Russian plane had bombed a northeastern Afghan border district says Afghan government officials

MOSCOW: Russia was not behind an air strike in northern Afghanistan and its military aircraft have not been conducting any operations near Afghanistan’s border with Tajikistan, the RIA news agency cited the Russian Defence Ministry as saying on Monday.

Two Afghan government officials said earlier on Monday that a Tajik or Russian plane had bombed a northeastern Afghan border district during a clash between gunmen and Tajik border guards.

Earlier an Afghan government official said a Tajik or Russian plane bombed Afghanistan’s Durqad district in northeastern Takhar province on Sunday after clashes erupted near Tajikistan’s border.



Khalil Asir, spokesperson for Takhar provincial police, said the bombing near the border area started after two Tajik border guards were killed in a clash with the Taliban. Eight Taliban insurgents were killed and six others were wounded, Asir said. The Taliban have confirmed the clash and the subsequent bombing.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani declared a provisional three-month ceasefire with the Taliban in a televised broadcast on Sunday, a move welcomed by Washington but yet to receive a reply from the militants themselves.

The announcement followed a bloody week of fighting across Afghanistan which saw the Taliban launch a massive assault against the provincial capital Ghazni.