US Troops Kill Seven Afghan Police

Police fired on GIs on night mission; mistook them for Taliban
By Sam Gale Rosen,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 12, 2007 10:55 AM CDT
US Troops Kill Seven Afghan Police
The shell casings allegedly used by U.S. forces in a shooting against the Afghan police are shown by an Afghan man at the site were Afghan police men were mistaken killed by U.S. forces in Khogyani district of Nangarhar province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan on Tuesday, June 12, 2007. Afghan police mistook...   (Associated Press)

U.S. troops mistakenly killed seven Afghan police during a nighttime mission yesterday. The police originally fired on the Americans, thinking they were Taliban fighters; in response, the soldiers opened fire and called in attack aircraft. A spokesman for President Hamid Karzai called the shooting "a tragic incident" sparked by miscommunication.

An investigation into the accident has been opened. Also yesterday, an 8-hour battle in southern Afghanistan ended with the killing of 24 Taliban fighters. The AP reports that over 2,300 people have died in insurgency-related violence this year. (More Afghanistan stories.)

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