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US troops kill four Afghan police with "friendly fire"

Posted on: Friday, 7 October 2005, 04:48 CDT

KABUL (Reuters) - U.S. troops killed four Afghan policemen and wounded another after mistaking them for militants during an operation in southern Afghanistan in which two Afghan soldiers died, officials said on Friday.

The incident happened on Thursday in Helmand province's Girishk district when U.S. troops spotted a vehicle carrying five armed men approaching an area where they were in contact with militants, said U.S. spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jerry O'Hara.

He said the police officers had not been in the uniform of the Afghan National Police and the vehicle had tried to drive away quickly.

"Coalition forces shot at the vehicle, killing four and wounding one," he said. "We are conducting an investigation. Of course we regret this incident."

A senior police officer in Helmand, Haji Mohammad Rahim, said the friendly fire incident occurred after Taliban guerrillas attacked a convoy of U.S. and Afghan troops in the same district, killing two Afghan soldiers.

The news came on the fourth anniversary of the start of the U.S. intervention that overthrew the Taliban government in late 2001 and amid stepped up violence after the guerrillas failed in their vow to derail September 18 legislative elections.

More than 1,000 people -- most of them militants, but including more than 50 U.S. soldiers -- have been killed in Afghanistan this year, the bloodiest period since 2001.

Source: REUTERS

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