Afghan military kill 6 security forces in air strike mistake

KABUL – Five Afghan soldiers and a police officer were killed in an air strike carried out by an Afghan military helicopter in western Farah province, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defence said Saturday.

The ministry said in a statement that the helicopter had used “inaccurate information from ground forces” when it conducted the air strike late Friday night.

It says the forces were being attacked by insurgents in the Bala Buluk district. When they called for air support, the helicopter incorrectly fired a rocket at a checkpoint occupied by Afghan security forces.

The incident is being investigated, the statement said.

It comes after a U.S. air strike in eastern Nangarhar province early Wednesday killed at least 15 people. Officials and the U.N. mission in Kabul say the dead were civilians.

Meanwhile in southern Helmand province, 11 Afghan civilians were killed when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb late Friday night, said Omar Zwak, spokesman for the provincial governor in Helmand.

“Two women and four children are among the 11 dead and all the victims from a single family,” said Zwak.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack in Helmand, but Taliban insurgents frequently target security forces with homemade bombs placed along roads and footpaths.