16 die in US bombing near Pak border: Report

ISLAMABAD: Sixteen people were killed when US warplanes launched an attack on an Afghan town near the Pakistani border, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported on Saturday.

Quoting sources in the border town of Wana, the Pakistan-based news service said the residents were gathered to pray for the return of a man who was taken into US custody two months ago.

The report said the planes attacked the town Thursday in Barmal district of Paktika province, five km from the Pakistani border. Among the 16 dead were six members of the same family, the agency said, adding that most of the bodies were mutilated.