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NATO air strike kills seven Afghan police: ministr
A NATO air strike mistakenly killed seven Afghan police and wounded two others on Thursday, hospital and government officials said, adding to strains on the alliance.
The NATO-run International Security Assistance Force ordered an immediate investigation into the incident in the northern province of Kunduz, where Taliban violence has recently increased, and hailed the role played by Afghan forces.
The incident occurred when a joint patrol by the Afghan army and police and NATO forces came under Taliban attack in the Imam Sahib district, Afghan interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary told AFP.
NATO called in an air strike and "the Afghan forces were bombed by mistake," the spokesman said. "Seven policemen were killed, including two officers, and two policemen were wounded."
Civilian casualties are a sensitive issue in Afghanistan, as President Hamid Karzai's government and his Western backers attempt to win a war of perceptions while battling an eight-year insurgency.