At least 16 Afghan National Police (ANP) force members were killed in a U.S. forces friendly fire airstrike in Gereshk district in the southern Helmand province on Friday, sources said on Saturday.
 
According to the sources, two soldiers were wounded in the airstrike.

The airstrike occurred at around 3:30pm on Friday in Parchaw village in the district.  

A source said security forces had asked for an airstrike to support the Afghan ground forces in retaking a security outpost in the district but according to the source, the area was retaken before the airstrike took place and that the U.S. airstrike targeted the Afghan forces gathered in the area.

The United States Forces in Afghanistan in a statement confirmed the casualties resulting from the strike.

“We can confirm local security personnel aligned with Afghan government forces were killed in an airstrike in Greshk district of Helmand province,” statement said.

“We would like to express our deepest condolences to the families affected by the unfortunate incident,” statement added.

The statement said the U.S. forces notified Afghan officials of the incident and also an investigation will be conducted to determine the specific circumstances that led to the incident.

The statement has not mentioned about the exact number of casualties in the airstrike.