NATO Occupation Forces Kill 7 Afghanis Civilians, 9 Policemen, 21 Alleged Taliban Fighters, According to July 20, 2008 News Reports

ISAF air raids kill Afghan policemen

Afghanistan News.Net Sunday 20th July, 2008 (IANS)

Kabul, July 20 (Xinhua)

An unspecified number of security personnel have been killed or injured in western Afghanistan's Farah province when an aircraft of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) strafed a police outpost, authorities said Sunday.

'Late Saturday night an aircraft of international troops mistakenly targeted a police checkpoint in Anardara district killing and wounding a number of our policemen,' Najibullah Popal of the provincial police said.

The officer did not give the number of the dead and injured but reports said at least nine police personnel were killed in the raid. The officer said he did not know whether the raid was carried out by NATO or the US-led Coalition forces.

He added that a team had been sent to Anardara to investigate the incident and provide assistance to the victims. There was no immediate statement from either the NATO or the Coalition forces on the incident.

NATO attack kills four civilians in Afghanistan

Posted : Sun, 20 Jul 2008 06:19:01 GMT Author : DPA

Kabul -

NATO soldiers unit killed at least four civilians and wounded four others in Afghanistan's Paktika province, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) admitted Sunday.

"The accident occurred last night in the Barmal district of Paktika when an ISAF unit fired two mortar rounds, which landed nearly 1 kilometre away from the intended target," an ISAF statement issued in Kabul said.

"Shortly afterwards wounded civilians presented themselves for treatment at an ISAF base, and a helicopter medical evacuation mission was immediately launched to assist," it said

Afghan operation kills 18, wounds 25 insurgents

www.chinaview.cn 2008-07-20 21:12:47

KABUL, July 20 (Xinhua) --

Afghan troops have killed and injured more than three dozen (alleged Taliban fighters) in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province, the former stronghold of Taliban, the defense ministry said Sunday.

It also said that 25 more (alleged Taliban fighters) had been injured and 15 others made captive.

However, it did not say the casualties of Afghani soldiers and Coalition troops.

Taliban (fighers) fighting Afghan government (and its NATO forces backers) have yet to make comment.

Editor: Sun Yunlong

Afghan officials: US-led forces killed 9 police

By NAHAL TOOSI, Associated Press Writer
Sunday, July 20, 2008

(07-20) 09:32 PDT KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) --

U.S.-led troops and Afghan forces killed nine Afghan police Sunday, calling in airstrikes and fighting on the ground for four hours after both sides mistook the other for (Taliban fighters), Afghan officials said.

In a separate incident, NATO said it accidentally killed at least four Afghan civilians Saturday night. A NATO soldier also was killed in the east.

The two cases of accidental killings could further undercut popular support for the government and foreign forces operating here. President Hamid Karzai has pleaded with the U.S. and other nations fighting (resistance fighters) to avoid civilian casualties.

In the western province of Farah near the Iranian border, a convoy of foreign forces showed up in Anar Dara district and clashed with Afghan police, killing nine of them, said provincial Deputy Governor Younus Rasuli.

He said the foreign troops had not informed local officials they were coming, and the police thought they were enemy fighters. The two sides fought from about midnight until 4 a.m. Sunday, and the foreign forces used airstrikes, Rasuli said.

The U.S.-led coalition said it was investigating the report. It said its forces, along with Afghan troops, had retaliated in defense against "a non-uniformed hostile force."

"The combined patrol signaled their status as coalition forces, but continued to receive fire," a military statement said. "Coalition forces then returned small arms fire and engaged the enemy with precision close air support."

In eastern Paktika province, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said it killed at least four civilians Saturday night when its troops fired two mortar rounds that landed nearly half a mile short of their target. NATO said it was investigating whether three other civilians also were killed in the Barmal district.

The alliance said it was providing medical aid to four civilians who were wounded.

Also Sunday, a NATO soldier was killed during fighting in the eastern Khost province, the alliance said in a statement. NATO did not identify the soldier's nationality, but most of the troops in that area are American.

Afghanistan faces intensifying (fighting) nearly seven years after the U.S.-led invasion of the country ousted the hard-line Islamic Taliban movement from power.

In other violence, the Ministry of Defense said Afghan troops battled (Taliban fighters) in the southern Kandahar province Saturday, killing 18 (Taliban fighters) and injuring 25. They also detained 15.

In neighboring Zabul province, Afghan troops killed nine militants and wounded seven, a ministry statement said.

Neither claim could be independently verified.

In the southern province of Helmand, a mine exploded Sunday under a civilian vehicle in Gereshk district, killing three children and wounding four people, said provincial police Chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal.

Andiwal accused Taliban (fighters) of planting the mine on a road frequently used by Afghan and foreign troops.

On Saturday, Taliban fighters attacked a police checkpoint in the same district but in the ensuing gunfight three Taliban fighters were killed, Andiwal said. No police were injured in that clash, he added.

___

Associated Press writers Amir Shah and Noor Khan in Kandahar contributed to this report.

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