NATO Denies UN Report That Airstrike Killed 3 Children In Afghanistan

An Afghan soldier belonging to the Field Artillery Division of the Afghan National Army (ANA), Kandak 6, checks the barrel of the D30 Howitzer gun prior to a test fire during a training session of ANA soldiers at Forward Base Honaker Miracle at Watahpur District in Kunar province on April 17, 2013

The NATO military coalition in Afghanistan has denied a United Nations report that a coalition airstrike killed three children in eastern Afghanistan.

The United Nations Children's Fund cited the alleged incident in a statement this week condemning a steep rise in child casualties. The statement said an aerial attack by international forces killed three children in the eastern province of Kunar this month.

The U.S.-led coalition said Friday that the report was "simply not true," and it had no aircraft operating in Kunar at the time of the June 6 incident. It said discussions with the provincial governor indicated that reports of a drone strike had been a misunderstanding.

UNICEF insisted Friday that it verifies all its figures and stands by the Kunar report.

Afghan villager Ghulam Rasool sits in the yard of his house where he and his family found refuge in the village of Khalis Family Village, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. Rasool padlocked his front door, handed over the keys and his three cows to a neighbor and in the middle of the night left his mountain home to escape relentless air strikes. 

 In this Sept. 4, 2009 file photo, a KZO surveillance drone takes off from the German base in Kunduz, Afghanistan. Criticism of drones has mounted in recent months. At the United Nations an inquiry has been launched into the civilian impact and human rights implications of using drones. The first in a series of reports is expected in May. In the United States, lawmakers are demanding greater transparency questioning the legality of using the unmanned predators to target and kill American citizens overseas as well as the implications of using smaller surveillance drones in the U.S

In this Tuesday, March 19, 2013 photo, Afghan boys study in a makeshift school in the village of Budyali, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. The village lost its former school building after Taliban militants attacked the district headquarters of Budyali in July 2011. The Afghan National Army requested help from coalition forces, who responded with drones, fighter jets and rockets, leaving the school destroyed, according to village elders.