Asia-Pacific

German friendly fire kills Afghan soldiers

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-04-03 17:08

KABUL – German soldiers traveling to the scene of a deadly firefight with Taliban insurgents accidentally killed six Afghan troops, the Afghan military said Saturday. Three Germans died in the firefight with the militants.

German friendly fire kills Afghan soldiers

Belgian soldiers, part of International Security Assistant Force (ISAF) force, stand at the site where three German soldiers were killed in Friday's fighting in Afghanistan's Kunduz province, northwest of Kabul, Saturday, April 3, 2010. [Agencies]

The German central command confirmed Friday's friendly fire incident, but put the number of Afghan casualties at five. The deaths occurred amid heavy fighting between German troops and militants near the northern city Kunduz.

The German military said German soldiers who were rushing from Kunduz to the scene of the fighting on Friday afternoon encountered two civilian vehicles and demanded that they stop. When they did not, a German armored personnel carrier opened fire on them, the statement said. The vehicles were later found to have been transporting Afghan troops and an investigation is pending, the military added.

Shortly before, German troops had been attacked while on a bridge-building and mine-clearing mission southwest of Kunduz city, formerly relatively calm area in the north that has lately seen a rising level of insurgent violence.

Kunduz provincial government spokesman Muhboballuh Sayedi said Afghan commanders were meeting on Saturday with coalition forces to discuss the incident.