Kabul, Afghanistan – Mistaking each other for the enemy, Afghan police fired four dozen grenades at U.S.-led coalition troops, who fought back with helicopter gunships in a fierce battle that left eight officers dead before dawn Tuesday, officials said.
The deadly lapse in communication underscored the wide gaps – and apparent mistrust – between U.S. and Afghan security forces.
President Hamid Karzai’s office called the deaths “a tragic incident” caused by a lack of cooperation and communication.
U.S. officials have said they are wary of telling Afghan forces about nighttime raids by U.S. Special Forces, the kind of operation apparently being conducted early Tuesday, out of fear the target might be tipped off.
The U.S.-led coalition said a joint coalition-Afghan force on a mission against a suspected Taliban safe house was fired on first and responded with their own weapons, then summoned air support. It said no U.S. casualties were reported.
A presidential spokesman also said police initiated the shooting, but officers at the isolated post on a barren stretch of desert in the eastern province of Nangarhar said U.S. troops fired first.
“The Americans came close to our checkpoint with the lights of their vehicles off,” said the commander of the roadblock. “We shouted at them to stop, but they didn’t, and they opened fire on us.”
He said eight policemen were killed, and four were wounded.
Maj. Chris Belcher, a coalition spokesman, said the troops were fired at by small arms and rocket-propelled grenades from two sides while on the way to conduct an operation against the suspected Taliban safe house.
Mistaken killings by international troops have been a problem in Afghanistan, and nighttime raids by U.S. Special Forces, in particular, have been criticized for causing civilian casualties.
Recent incidents prompted the upper house of Afghanistan’s parliament to pass a resolution last month that would prohibit foreign soldiers from launching military action unless they are attacked first or have consulted Afghan officials. The resolution hasn’t been acted on by the lower house.
NATO officials have said they are working on ways to increase involvement of Afghan troops on missions to cut down on mistaken killings, but those mechanisms apparently are not yet in place.
The U.S.-led coalition conducts counterterrorism missions, while the NATO force in Afghanistan, which includes some U.S. troops, is responsible for counterinsurgency operations.
