NATO called in air strikes on Afghan Army outpost

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/international/NATO_troops_clash_with_Afghan_allies.html?cid=8182936

Jan 28, 2010 - 08:01

NATO troops clash with Afghan allies

By Asif Andalib

SALAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - NATO troops clashed with their Afghan allies in a so-called "friendly fire" incident on Saturday, calling in air strikes that killed four Afghan soldiers and stoked anger among villagers.

The clashes took place hours after an apparently disgruntled interpreter shot dead two U.S. soldiers at a nearby base. The incidents, although not apparently linked, highlighted the fraught relationship between Western forces and their Afghan hosts.

NATO and Afghan officials tried to head off tension by announcing a joint investigation into how their troops ended up battling each other in Wardak province, southwest of Kabul.

"Four army soldiers were killed and six wounded when a foreign forces air strike hit their post," said Shahedullah Shahed, spokesman for Wardak's governor. "We don't know why it happened, but it is deeply regrettable."

He said the strike had targeted an Afghan Army outpost that had been newly established. Foreign forces and Afghan troops were both separately conducting overnight operations when they started shooting at each other, he said.