U.S.-LED coalition troops killed 14 road construction workers in airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan after receiving faulty intelligence, Afghan officials said yesterday.

The coalition said it was looking into the incident in Nuristan province, but did not immediately comment. NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said it had conducted airstrikes against Taliban fighters in the area, but did not say when.

“ISAF was engaged in Nurgaram and Du Ab (districts), and in those places we used airstrikes against (Taliban),” ISAF spokesman Brig. Gen. Carlos Branco told a news conference. “The situation is not clear at all at this stage. We are carrying out the investigation and trying to get a clear picture.”

The engineers and laborers had been building a road for the U.S. military in mountainous Nuristan province, and were sleeping in two tents in the remote area when they were killed Monday night, said Sayed Noorullah Jalili, director of the Kabul-based road construction company Amerifa. There were no survivors, he said.

“All of our poor workers have been killed,” Jalili said. “I don’t think the Americans were targeting our people. I’m sure it’s the enemy of the Afghans who gave the Americans this wrong information.”

Jalili earlier said 22 workers were killed, but he said the latest reports indicated the death toll was 14.

(SD-Agencies)