The Pentagon Tuesday defended an air attack in Afghanistan that reportedly killed 14 road workers as based on "credible" intelligence that the targets were insurgents.
The head of an Afghan-Korean construction company building a road in remote Nuristan province said the warplanes mistakenly bombed a road construction camp, killing its workers.
Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, said the NATO-led force in Afghanistan "acted on credible intelligence from several sources" in launching the air strike.
"We believe that Abdulla Jan, the western Nuristan Taliban commander, may have been killed in the air strike. We deem it, at this point, a legitimate air strike," he said.
Pentagon officials said there was a construction site a kilometer (half mile) away, but the site hit had no construction vehicles or other signs of roadbuilding activity.
"We did not, nor do we ever, target civilians, although, as you well know, the Taliban most certainly does," Morrell said.
The head of the Amerifa Construction Company, Sayed Nurrullah Jalili, told AFP that a tent camp housing workers came under attack late Monday.
"Helicopters and jet fighters bombed our camp in western Nuristan province, killing 14 of our roadworkers," he said.
