NATO airstrike kills 8 Afghan troops

Mohammed Rahim Amin, governor of Logar province’s Baraki Barak district, where the strike occurred, told Stars and Stripes that about 6 a.m., American helicopters struck an Afghan army checkpoint manned by 14 soldiers.

“The incident is under investigation”, Col. Brian Tribus, a U.S. Military spokesman in Afghanistan, reportedly said.

Other Afghan officials also reported the strike, though they gave different numbers of casualties.

A similar “mistake” happened past year in December when North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces killed five civilians and injured six others in the same area.

He also said that checkpoint was not a suspicious area.

The Taliban shot at the rescue team, forcing them to leave the bodies behind.

Despite peace negotiations between the government and the Taliban, there has been an increase in Taliban attacks, as well as daily air strikes targeting insurgents, says Loyn. “The wounded soldiers were evacuated to the hospital”.

Foreign forces are themselves known to sometimes fall victim to “friendly fire” incidents.

The Afghan army does have some attack helicopters.

Although the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces wrapped up their combat mission in Afghanistan in December 2014, about 10,000 worldwide troops are still in place in Afghanistan to train and advise Afghan forces; the coalition troops’ fighting role is limited to special operations.

In January, Afghan soldiers accidentally fired mortars at a wedding party that killed 17 women and children in the southern province of Helmand.