US air strike kills 16 Afghan cops

A US airstrike has killed 16 policemen in Afghanistan, officials said yesterday, the latest setback to Washington's efforts to bring peace to the war-torn country.

The incident took place in Helmand province on Friday as Afghan security forces attempted to clear a village of Taliban militants, Salam Afghan, a police spokesman, told AFP.

"In the strike, 16 Afghan policemen were killed including two commanders. Two other policemen were wounded," he said.

The strike hit a compound in Gereshk district in Helmand, large parts of which are under Taliban control.

"A US-supported (Afghan security) operation...resulted in the deaths of... friendly Afghan forces who were gathered in a compound," Nato's mission in Afghanistan said in a statement.

"We would like to express our deepest condolences to the families affected by this unfortunate incident," the statement said, adding there would be a probe into what happened.

An interior ministry spokesman, Najeeb Danish, said a ministry delegation had been sent to the area to investigate and help families of the victims.

The development came as Pentagon chief Jim Mattis finalised plans to present a new Afghanistan strategy to President Donald Trump in a bid to reverse what US generals call a "stalemate" at best.

In February, a US airstrike in Sangin killed at least 18 civilians, mostly women and children.

Last November 32 Afghan civilians were killed in a US airstrike in the northeastern province of Kunduz.