KABUL — Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday condemned the killing of six children and an adult in the southern part of the country that local officials blame on a NATO airstrike.
Karzai’s office said in a statement that local officials said NATO was responsible for the incident in the Zhar zai district of Kandahar province.
NATO said Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. and allied commander in Afghanistan, ordered an investigation into the Wednesday incident.
The statement said Allen was saddened by the incident, which it said “concerns several civilians being killed and injured. This unfortunate incident occurred when coalition forces identified, and responded to, offensive actions by insurgents.”
Zalmai Ayoubi, a spokesman for the governor of Kandahar, said a NATO reconnaissance aircraft spotted five militants planting mines in Zhare district Wednesday. The plane targeted the insurgents, killing two and wounding a third, and then pursued the other two as they carried their injured comrade away.
“The plane chased them, the insurgents entered a street where children were playing, and as a result of its shooting, seven people have been killed, including six children, and two girls also have been injured,” Ayoubi said. The victims were members of two families.
Denver Post wire services
