NATO warplanes kill Canadian soldiers
September 5, 2006 - 12:49AM
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/...222077828.html
NATO warplanes strafed their own forces yesterday during a battle with insurgents, killing one Canadian soldier and seriously wounding five others during an anti-Taliban operation that has reportedly killed 200 militants in southern Afghanistan.
A British soldier attached to NATO was also killed in a Kabul suicide bombing, which left another four Afghans dead today, NATO and Afghan officials said.
Sixteen suspected Taliban militants and five Afghan police died in separate Afghan violence.
The intense fighting comes amid Afghanistan's deadliest spate of violence since US-led forces toppled the hard-line Taliban regime for hosting al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
NATO said the friendly fire incident occurred during a major NATO-led anti-Taliban operation in Kandahar province's Panjwayi district after ground troops requested air support.
Two NATO aircraft "regrettably engaged friendly forces during a strafing run, using cannons," the statement said.
One Canadian soldier was killed, said NATO spokesman Major Scott Lundy, while five were seriously wounded and evacuated out of Afghanistan to an undisclosed location for medical treatment. An investigation into the incident has been launched.
"It is particularly distressing to us all when, despite the care and precautions that are always applied, a tragedy like this happens," said NATO commander Lieutenant General David Richards.
On Sunday, four Canadian soldiers were killed and seven wounded during Operation Medusa, which is aiming to drive a large group of Taliban militants from Panjwayi, which lies about 25 kilometres west of the main southern city of Kandahar.
Some 32 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan since 2002.
In Kabul, a suicide car bomber in a four-wheel drive exploded alongside a British convoy, killing one soldier and seriously wounding another, the British Ministry of Defence said.
Another four Afghan civilians were killed, while at least two other NATO soldiers and seven Afghans were wounded in the blast on the Kabul-Jalalabad road, NATO and Afghan officials said.
The bomber driving the four-wheel drive also died, Afghan police said.
Thirty-seven British personnel have been killed in Afghanistan since operations began in 2001 - 28 of them in the past four months.
NATO reported that more than 200 Taliban fighters had died in the first two days of Operation Medusa, that began on Saturday.
The Afghan Defence Ministry, however, only reported 89 militants were killed. Some 80 other suspected Taliban were arrested by Afghan police and a further 180 fled, NATO said.
The casualty counts - which if confirmed represent one of the deadliest combat actions since US-led forces ousted the Taliban regime five years ago - could not be independently verified.
Authorities have barred citizens from travelling on all but the main road running through this part of Kandahar province, and reporters could not reach the battlefield.
A NATO statement said its figure was derived from "surveillance and reconnaissance assets operating in Panjwayi and Zhari districts" and information from Afghan officials and citizens.
On Sunday, an Associated Press reporter who travelled to the district's Pashmul area saw warplanes drop five bombs within about 20 minutes on orchards where Taliban fighters were believed to be hiding. Booming explosions echoed above the grape and pomegranate fields and kicked up clouds of dust.
NATO said there were no reports of civilian casualties, despite the heavy fire. Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman General Zahir Azimi, however, said there were a number of civilian casualties.
NATO spokesman Major Scott Lundy said the NATO and Afghan forces had gained ground and had disrupted the militants' command and control, causing confusion among the fighters.
The weekend's fatalities increased the total of foreign troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year beyond the 130 who died during all of 2005 - an indication of the escalation in violence sparked by an upsurge in Taliban attacks.
AP