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Russia urges US to complete probe into erroneous air strikes on Afghanistan

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said that over the past week alone, the US indiscriminate air strikes in Afghanistan have killed about 35 civilians
Russia’s Foreign Ministry Marina Lystseva/TASS
Russia’s Foreign Ministry
© Marina Lystseva/TASS

MOSCOW, January 30. /TASS/. Moscow urges Washington to complete the probe into the US troops’ erroneous air strikes against civilians in Afghanistan and hold culprits liable, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a commentary circulated on Wednesday.

Over the past week alone, the US indiscriminate air strikes in Afghanistan have killed about 35 civilians, the ministry said.

"Special attention was captured by the latest incident when a drone’s erroneous strike in the province of Helmand on January 24 killed 16 civilians and the following day a strike was delivered against a funeral procession organized by the relatives of those people. The strike killed 13 more people," the ministry said.

However, "the US command does not give any comprehensible comments on the above-mentioned flagrant incidents, confining itself only to formal statements on the start of an investigation," Russia’s Foreign Ministry said.

"But as years-long practice shows, none of such probes has been completed to date," the ministry pointed out.

"What also causes surprise is that all these tragic events are actually not covered in the national media and remain absolutely ignored by local human rights advocates," the statement reads.

All these developments are taking place amid the talks between the United States and representatives of the Taliban radical group (outlawed in Russia) on organizing the peace process in the republic, the Foreign Ministry said.

"The periodic air strikes against civilians categorically run counter to the attempts to establish peace in that country and sooner lead to the opposite result: the growth of animosity towards the international coalition’s forces and the intensifying extremist sentiments in Afghan society, which are fueling the continuation of the war," Russia’s Foreign Ministry stressed.

"We are urging the US side and the command of NATO’s forces in Afghanistan to halt criminal actions against Afghan civilians, take measures to exclude victims among civilians and conclude the investigation of all the above-mentioned incidents, make public their results and bring culprits to account," the statement reads.