KABUL - November 8, 2009 - SEVEN Afghan security personnel were killed in a mis-targeted Nato air strike in the remote northwest, the defence ministry said on Saturday, signalling further trouble for a fraying Western military effort.
The 'friendly fire' incident occurred when Nato and Afghan forces searching for two missing American paratroopers in the barren, rugged area clashed with the Taleban.
'Due to a Nato forces air strike on November 6 in Badghis province, seven Afghan security personnel (both army and national police) were martyred and also some were wounded,' the ministry said in a statement.
Nato's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said that more than 25 ISAF and Afghan security personnel were killed or wounded during the joint operation.
It said it was investigating whether some of those casualties resulted from friendly fire. However, one Western military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to AFP that it appeared to be a 'blue-on-blue incident' - a military term for friendly fire - with 'a huge number of casualties'.
Afghan defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Zahir Azimi told AFP there was no doubt Afghan personnel had been killed and injured by their international partners. 'It was an erroneous air strike which caused casualties to friendly forces,' he said. -- AFP
