U.S. Airstrike Kills 10 Afghan Police

(AP)  A bomb dropped by a U.S.-led coalition aircraft killed 10 police in southeastern Afghanistan Thursday, the deputy national chief of border police said.

The U.S. military said the "incident is under investigation."

The policemen were killed when coalition aircraft mistakenly "dropped a bomb" on a two-vehicle border police patrol in Turwa area of southeastern Paktika province at 10:30 a.m., said Gen. Abdul Rahman, Afghanistan's deputy chief of border police. There were no survivors, he said.

Earlier, a U.S. soldier was killed when his vehicle struck a Soviet-era mine in eastern Afghanistan, officials said. Also, two suicide bombers targeted U.S., Afghan and NATO troops, killing one civilian and wounding at least nine others, including a U.S. soldier, in the latest violence to hit southern Afghanistan, officials said.

Col. Tom Collins, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, said they were aware of the reports of the friendly-fire bombing that killed policemen, but could not "divulge details at this time."

"This incident is under investigation," Collins said.

Rahman said border police transported the bodies of those killed to Sharan, the capital of Paktika province.

An Afghan official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to media, said the police had been patrolling in pickup trucks. He said border police brigade commander, Mohammad Kabir, was among those killed.

In eastern Afghanistan, U.S.-led forces killed eight suspected militants after coming under attack.

Afghanistan, especially its southern provinces, is going through its worst spate of violence since a U.S.-led invasion in late 2001 toppled the Taliban regime.

In Kandahar province Thursday, a bomber drove an explosive-laden car into a joint U.S.-Afghan army convoy on the main Kandahar-Kabul highway, seriously wounding one U.S. soldier, said Mohammadullah Khan, an Afghan army officer who was in the convoy.

The wounded soldier was part of the team that trains Afghan National Army, said Col. Tom Collins, a U.S. military spokesman.

The bomber died and an U.S. armored Humvee vehicle was damaged in the blast, Khan said.

• 1
• 2
• Next Page »