NATO airstrike kills three Afghan police officers

2011-01-10 19:36:25 GMT+7 (ICT)

KABUL (BNO NEWS) -- Three Afghan police officers were killed on Sunday when the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mistook them for suspected insurgents, the alliance said on Monday.

The incident happened on Sunday when the ISAF team was conducting a patrol near Baladas village in Daykundi province. "An ISAF team identified nine armed individuals setting up what appeared to be an ambush position," the alliance said in a statement.

ISAF said the team then requested and received support from an air weapons team which engaged the armed individuals. "It was later determined the air weapons team may have engaged an Afghan police team," ISAF added.

The alliance said three wounded police officers were immediately transported to a local hospital for treatment. Three other officers were killed.

"While we take extraordinary precaution while conducting operations to avoid friendly casualties, it appears innocent people may have been mistakenly targeted. We send our sincere condolences to their families and friends," said U.S. Army Col. Rafael Torres, ISAF Joint Command Combined Joint Operations Center director.

There have been several civilian casualty and friendly fire incidents in Afghanistan in recent months. On December 15, four Afghan soldiers were killed by an ISAF airstrike after the force believed they were under small arms fire from insurgents.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-01-10

Three less police officers to train for the Dutch :

AMSTERDAM | Fri Jan 7, 2011 10:30am EST

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch government said on Friday it plans to send a new training mission to Afghanistan, less than a year after the country's military presence led to the previous government's fall and the withdrawal of troops.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7063E320110107