Friendly fire suspected in the deaths of seven members of Afghan security forces

Last update: November 7, 2009 - 11:56 PM

Friendly fire is suspected in the deaths of seven members of the Afghan security forces. The troops were killed Friday in a NATO airstrike, the Afghan Defense Ministry and local officials in Badghis Province said. A NATO spokesman confirmed the deaths, adding that a Afghan civilian was also killed in the incident. NATO is investigating whether its close air support was responsible for the casualties. If so, it would be one of the worst cases of friendly fire in the course of the eight-year war. The troops were in rural Badghis Province in the country's far northwest, searching for two U.S. soldiers missing since Wednesday. The Americans vanished while on a resupply mission. Some local people said they were swept away when they tried to retrieve an air-drop of supplies that fell into a river. But a local Taliban leader claimed they had killed one of the men in a firefight. According to NATO, five U.S. soldiers were wounded in the operation against militants there, along with 15 Afghan soldiers, two Afghan police officers and one Afghan civilian.

Pushing back against international criticism, Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry said the top U.N. official in the country overstepped his authority by giving instructions on how to rid the Afghan government of corruption and warlords. Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide warned Thursday that Kabul should not assume that it will have the support of international donors and troops if it continues to accept corruption and welcome warlords into the administration. "Sometimes our advice is not going to be palatable, but we have to advise in good faith to the best of our abilities," Eide said.

Pakistani soldiers killed 12 militants in gun battles since Friday as government forces pressed on with their offensive in the mountainous Taliban sanctuary of South Waziristan. The military said while the army has taken control of two former strongholds -- Sararogha and Ladha -- there were still occasional clashes with militants. The army was still battling for full control of Makeen, which they call the "nerve center" of the Pakistani Taliban.

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