BAGRAM, Afghanistan — Dutch troops in Afghanistan killed two of their own men during a nighttime battle and, separately, two allied Afghan soldiers they mistook for enemies, the Defense Ministry said Sunday.
“Darkness, the weather conditions and the confused situation” played a role in the mistake Saturday in Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan, Gen. Dick Berlijn, the top Dutch military commander, said in a statement.
Opposing fighters were in between Dutch units during the fighting several miles northwest of Camp Hadrian, near Deh Rawod.
The two Afghan soldiers, who were not “recognizably in uniform,” also were killed Saturday after they approached a wounded Dutch soldier 6 miles to the south, Berlijn said.
Military police were investigating both incidents.
The Associated Press
