NATO airstrike accidentally kills 5 Afghan troops

[Lionheart23]

Source: AP

July 7, 2010

KABUL, Afghanistan – NATO mistakenly killed five of its Afghan army allies in an airstrike Wednesday while the Afghans were attacking insurgents in the country's east, officials said.

An Afghan defense official condemned the latest "friendly fire" deaths, which came at a time when international troops are trying to improve coordination with Afghan security forces in hopes of handing over more security to them nearly nine years into the war. Three American soldiers were also reported killed Wednesday in a roadside bomb in the south.

The Afghan soldiers were launching an ambush before dawn against insurgents reportedly on the move in Ghazni province when NATO aircraft began firing on them without warning, Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said.

Five Afghan soldiers died and two more were wounded in the airstrike in Ghazni's Andar district, he said.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100707/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan;_ylt=Ai5B_Ala8BzVlrK6VmdDssis0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNlbjdndWZjBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwNzA3L2FzX2FmZ2hhbmlzdGFuBGNjb2RlA21vc3Rwb3B1bGFyBGNwb3MDMQRwb3MDMgRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsD

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Petraeus is off to a great start, I see </sarc>

[KG]

1. winning hearts and minds, one dead afghan citizen at a time...

:eyes:

[Soylent Brice]

2. .

[WinkyDink]

3. Must have thought it was a wedding party.

[Judi Lynn]

4. NATO Airstrike Accidentally Kills Afghan Troops

Source: New York Times

NATO Airstrike Accidentally Kills Afghan Troops
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and ABDUL WAHEED WAFA
Published: July 7, 2010

KABUL, Afghanistan — In a devastating case of friendly fire, NATO pilots who did not realize that Afghan soldiers had laid a trap for Taliban militants on the ground beneath them mistakenly attacked the soldiers as they lay in wait, killing at least five of them, Afghan officials said.

The attack in the Andor District of Ghazni Province, about 100 miles southwest of Kabul, suggested a lack of communication between NATO troops giving orders to the aircraft and Afghan forces on the ground who were trying to capture or kill militants who hold sway in part of the district known as Rahim Khiel.

The Afghan soldiers “had made an ambush for the enemy” when they were attacked early Wednesday morning, said Gen. Zahir Azimi, the spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defense.

General Azimi said the “air force” had “bombarded” the Afghan soldiers; a NATO official later said a helicopter had fired a single rocket into the formation of Afghan troops.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/08/world/asia/08afghan.html?_r=1&ref=world

[truthisfreedom]

5. Tragic.

[saigon68]

9. OOPs

[Blue Owl]

6. Just some more friendly fire

Oh, that pesky optional war that can't be won.

Wow, it's all so worthwhile, isn't it.

[elias49]

7. Oh snap!

Wonder if Patraeus has changed the rules of engagement yet?

[Jumping John]

8. It's like the military wants to create enemies! I hope the Gen uses the word UTMOST when apologizing

[saigon68]

10. `