Residents in the eastern province of Laghman on Thursday held a demonstration to protest the killing of at least three civilians in an operation by Afghan security forces.

Residents claimed that the operation was carried out by the Unit-02 of the National Directorate of Security on Wednesday night in Alingar district.

“They came at night and the aircraft started attacking. One of my brothers was martyred,” said Hamid Niazi, a protestor.

“All those killed in the operation are the poor,” said another protestor, Siraj Niazi.

The NDS has claimed that their unit had not launched any operation on Wednesday night.

“A task force comprised of security and intelligence institutions has been assigned to probe the operation in this district,” said Assadullah Dawlatzai, spokesman for the Laghman governor.

The Unit-02 group has been reported in the media before for allegedly killing civilians in military operations.

Recently, four brothers were killed during one such operation in Nangarhar province. Following the incident, President Ashraf Ghani fired the head of the NDS, Masoom Stanekzai.