www射-国产免费一级-欧美福利-亚洲成人福利-成人一区在线观看-亚州成人

Global General

Special

Newsmaker

Asia Pacific

America

Middle East

Europe

Africa

7 Afghans killed during missing US troops search

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-11-07 21:13

KABUL: NATO forces mistakenly killed seven Afghan soldiers and police in an air strike during a battle while searching for two missing American soldiers in Afghanistan, the Afghan Defence Ministry said on Saturday.

The NATO-led force said none of its troops were killed but five were wounded, along with at least 20 Afghans, in a battle that took place on Friday during a manhunt for the two soldiers who went missing on Wednesday.

"Yesterday, in a NATO air strike, seven Afghan (soldiers and police) were martyred in Badghis province," Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman General Zaher Azimy said, adding that other members of the Afghan security forces were wounded.

Related readings:  US military plane, helicopter collide, 9 missing  PLA sleuths shed light on US 'missing in action'  One US soldier killed, 8 wounded in helicopter crash  Two NATO soldiers missing in Afghanistan NATO aircraft crashes in N Afghanistan

Lieutenant Todd Vician, a NATO press officer, confirmed that NATO had launched air strikes during the search operation but said the force was still investigating whether its strikes were responsible for friendly casualties.

Friday's battle took place during a search and rescue operation for two soldiers from the US 82nd Airborne Division, who went missing after a resupply mission.

The Taliban and provincial officials in Badghis say the two missing Americans drowned in a river. A Taliban spokesman has said the militants recovered their bodies.

NATO says the search is still under way.

Reports of missing soldiers in Afghanistan are extremely rare and immediately prompt a large-scale military response.

Troops from more than 40 nations are members of the nearly 110,000-strong NATO-led force, two-thirds of them American.