Logar: 5 Afghan soldiers killed in NATO blitz

PUL-I-ALAM (Pajhwok): A NATO airstrike killed five Afghan army soldiers and injured at least eight others in central Logar province early on Thursday morning, officials said. The coalition said the deaths were accidental and expressed condolences to the bereaved families.

The friendly blitz took place in Bandoka area of Chakh district around 4:00am, said the district administrative head, Khalilullah Kamal.

He told Pajhwok Afghan News the airstrike hit the ANA facility that had recently been transferred to the Afghan forces by their foreign counterparts,

He confirmed five ANA soldiers had been killed and 17 others wounded in the airstrike.

A 203rd Thunder Military Corps commander in the area, Col. Abdul Razzaq Sapi, put at 13 the number of ANA service members killed and wounded. He was on the way to the post when the airstrike occurred.

Meanwhile, Defence Ministry spokesman Gen. Zahir Azimi said five Afghan soldiers were killed and eight others were wounded in the airstrike.

He said an investigation was underway and that “the defense minister and all the staff of the ministry were saddened by the incident.

Din Mohammad Darwish, the governor’s spokesman, said local officials were meeting to decide their response and to conduct a further investigation into the incident.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in a statement said: “We can confirm that at least five Afghan National Army personnel were accidentally killed this morning during an operation in eastern Afghanistan.” 

ISAF said an investigation was being conducted to determine the circumstances that led to the unfortunate incident. 

“Our condolences go out to the families of the ANA soldiers who lost their lives and were wounded.”

The airstrike is likely to draw another verbal attack from President Hamid Karzai against US and NATO soldiers in his country.

There were no available details about the airstrike and what procedure was involved before it was carried out.

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