Officials from the provincial police claimed on Thursday that “15 people were killed and six wounded” by a “drone strike” in the Khoghyani district of Nangarhar province in early morning.

Members of the Provincial Council said the number was 35 killed.

The strike took place in the Wazir Tangi area of the district, police officials said, “while farmers were harvesting peanuts.”

A spokesman for USFOR-A (US forces in Afghanistan) Colonel Sonny Leggett, stated that US forces conducted a precision strike against Daesh terrorists in Nangarhar early Thursday morning.

“We are fighting in a complex environment against those who intentionally kill and hide behind civilians, as well as use dishonest claims of non-combatant casualties as propaganda weapons,” Leggett said.

“We are aware of allegations of the death of non-combatants and are working with local officials to determine the facts to ensure this is not a ploy to deflect attention from the civilians murdered by the Taliban at a hospital in Zabul earlier today,” he added.

This comes while at least 20 people have been killed and over 100 wounded in a Taliban vehicle bomb close to a government hospital and National Directorate of Security (NDS) office in Qalat, capital of Zabul province on Thursday, local officials confirmed.

The Taliban claimed they were targeting the NDS, but local officials said that the government hospital has been destroyed and no NDS employees were hurt.