Afghan military official: Coalition airstrike kills 8 Afghan troops east of Kabul

“It seems the attack was carried out mistakenly on army forces, and an investigation is ongoing to find its reason”, said General Abdul Razaq, a senior commander in Logar.

Speaking in a statement, the US official added that the incident was “under investigation”.

Amin said the targeted checkpoint was “not a suspicious area”.

According to initial reports citing Afghan officials, a pair of USA gunships attacked the outpost in Logar Province in the morning hours.

American helicopters were flying in the Chiltan area of Logar province’s Baraki Barak district, about 40 miles south of Kabul, about 6 a.m. when they took ground fire, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

There are about 10,000 global troops in Afghanistan who are training and advising Afghan forces.

In june, the USA army carried out 106 airstrikes targeting Taliban positions in Afghanistan which was a significant increase over previous months when the number of airstrikes averaged at about 40.

A North Atlantic Treaty Organisation air strike in December killed five civilians and wounded six others in the same district of Baraki Barak.

The militants have continued with attacks despite taking part in preliminary peace talks with the Kabul government in Pakistan on July 7 – the first ever officially acknowledged face-to-face meetings.

While “friendly fire” incidents involving foreign coalition forces are a deeply contentious issue in Afghanistan, United Nations statistics show that the Taliban are responsible for most deaths.

At least four Afghan soldiers were wounded in the strike.