KABUL, Afghanistan — As if to underscore the challenges the U.S. faces in Afghanistan during the visit of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, U.S. and allied troops were blamed for two mistakes Sunday that killed at least 12 Afghans.
The issue of civilian casualties has become a major problem in the country, and many Afghans resent foreign troops for killing noncombatants, even by accident.
NATO said Sunday it accidentally killed at least four civilians in southeastern Paktika province, when two mortars landed a half-mile from their target. Three other Afghans may have been killed.
Khalilullah Rahmani, the police chief of western Farah province, said foreign troops mistakenly bombed Afghan police in his province, killing eight. He said police fired on vehicles that had their lights off after they failed to stop at a police checkpoint — not realizing they were driven by coalition forces, not guerrillas.
The coalition soldiers and Afghan soldiers with them fired back and eventually called in an airstrike, not realizing that their adversaries were police, not militants. Chicago Tribune
