Afghanistan

Col. Brian Tribus, the spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said Monday that coalition aircraft carried out no strikes in the southern Helmand province the day before.

An Afghan official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information, had earlier said that a NATO airstrike in Helmand on Sunday killed the 11 during an operation to arrest drug smugglers.

He said four other counter-narcotics officers were wounded in the strike.

Munir Ahmad Farhad, the spokesman for the governor of Balkh province, said the civilians were killed by unidentified gunmen who stopped their vehicles and then shot them dead.

The incident took place as Ghani opened a conference of donors to his country's reconstruction after almost 40 years of war, telling them he has made progress on a range of major challenges including security and corruption.

"U.S. forces conducted airstrikes in Musa Qala today against individuals threatening coalition and Afghan forces," Col. Brian Tribus, a spokesman for U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan, said without providing further details.

Afghan Army Brig. Gen. Mohammad Rasool Zaizai said Afghan and allied warplanes struck army and police headquarters in the Musa Qala district in northern Helmand province Thursday, likely killing fighters and civilians.

The attack struck near the private Shinozada hospital in the capital's Macrorayan neighborhood, the sound of the powerful blast roaring throughout the capital.

The bombing killed at least nine Afghan civilians and one foreigner and wounded 60, said Wahidullah Mayar, a Health Ministry spokesman. U.S. Col. Brian Tribus, a NATO spokesman, said the three contractors had been killed, without elaborating.

Conflicting information is common after such attacks.

Heyatullah Amiri, district administrative chief of Khan Abad district, said a suicide bomber on foot targeted a meeting of criminal groups late Saturday. Twenty-five of those killed were members of the armed groups, including four leaders, while the remaining four were civilians, he said.

Amiri said 19 others were wounded, including 15 civilians.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in an email sent to media.

Afghanistan's main intelligence agency announced Mullah Omar's death earlier Wednesday and said he'd been dead for more than two years.

White House spokesman Eric Schultz isn't commenting on the time frame, but he says the U.S. intelligence community is looking into the circumstances around Mullah Omar's death.

Abdul Hassib Seddiqi, the spokesman for Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security, said Wednesday that Mullah Omar died in a hospital in the Pakistani city of Karachi in April 2013.

"We confirm officially that he is dead," he told The Associated Press.

The confirmation comes two days before the Afghan government and the Taliban are to hold their second round of official peace talks in Pakistan.

The airstrike killed Abu Khalil Al-Sudani on July 11, Carter said in a brief statement given to reporters traveling with him in Iraq.

Carter called Al-Sudani a senior shura member and head of Al-Qaida suicide and explosive operations, and said he is directly linked to plots to attack the United States.

He said Al-Sudani also directed operations against coalition, Afghan and Pakistani forces, and maintained a close association with Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the leader of Al-Qaida.