NATO troops clashed with their Afghan allies in a so-called “friendly fire” incident early Saturday morning, calling in airstrikes that killed four Afghan soldiers and stoked anger among villagers. NATO and Afghan officials both confirmed the incident in Wardak province southwest of Kabul, and tried to head off tension by announcing a joint investigation. “Four army soldiers were killed and six wounded when a foreign forces airstrike hit their post,” said Shahedullah Shahed, spokesman for Wardak's governor. “We don't know why it happened, but it is deeply regrettable.” He said the strike had targeted an Afghan Army outpost that had been newly established. Foreign forces and Afghan troops were both separately conducting overnight operations when they started shooting at each other, he said. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said its troops had come under fire and called in airstrikes, without realizing they were engaging Afghan security forces. “Initial post-operational reports indicate the small arms fire originated from an Afghan National Army (ANA) combat outpost and the subsequent air support called in by the joint force likely killed at least four ANA soldiers,” it said in a statement. “We work extremely hard to coordinate and synchronize our operations,” said Canadian Brigadier-General Eric Tremblay, the force's main spokesman. “This is a regrettable incident and our thoughts go out to the families of those killed and wounded.” “Friendly fire” incidents and killings of Afghan civilians are among the biggest sources of tension between the Afghan government and the Western troops fighting to protect it. “As you can see, they dropped bombs on the outpost. It was the Americans of course. Who else can bomb us?” an angry grey-bearded village elder told Reuters television in the town of Salar, gesturing towards the sky above the site of the incident. The NATO-led force, which is about two-thirds American, did not identify the nationality of the troops involved in the operation on the ground or in the air. The Afghan Defense Ministry called for a court martial for any troops found responsible. “The soldiers involved in the horrific incident must be dealt with according to martial law, without any hesitation, so that they receive punishment for their action,” it said. In a separate incident in nearby Ghazni province, ISAF said Saturday its troops had shot dead two Afghan civilians and wounded a third when they failed to heed warnings to stop the vehicle in which they were traveling. Such shootings have led to street demonstrations against Western troops in recent weeks. The United Nations says ISAF has managed to reduce the number of civilians killed since its commander, US General Stanley McChrystal, issued new guidelines last year aimed at curbing such deaths.
