Amid growing concerns over civilian casualties in the latest Kunduz military operation, the presidential palace on Thursday night said in a statement that during a military operation on Wednesday night insurgents infiltrated residential areas and used people as human shields in the Boz Kandahari area of Kunduz leaving a number of women and children dead and wounded.
Kunduz police have so far confirmed three dead.
"President Ghani was shocked after hearing the news of the civilian death toll and directed the security and defense officials and Kunduz governor to take all necessary steps during operations to prevent civilian casualties," the statement read.
The statement noted that Ghani has assigned a task team to probe the incident in order to implement the law against those who committed this inhumane act.
"The president also ordered Kunduz governor and other relevant security and civilian officials to ensure the delivery of necessary aid to the families of victims and make sure the best treatment is made available to those injured in the incident," the statement added.
Meanwhile, former president Hamid Karzai has also condemned foreign troops for conducting air strikes on Afghan villages and towns.
"Former president has once again raised his deep concerns over the fatalities among the civilians in the result of air strikes carried out by the foreign forces where a number of women and children were killed," the statement read.
"The former president reiterated that any attack under any pretext on villages and homes of Afghans is not acceptable," the statement said.
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