Eight Afghan Policemen Killed in ‘Friendly Fire’ by US Air Strike

The US military command in Kabul confirmed its warplanes had conducted an air strike in the area. (Photo: AP)

A US air strike killed as many as eight Afghan policemen outside the embattled provincial capital of Uruzgan province, Afghan officials said on Monday, as security forces, supported by US strikes, battle resurgent Taliban militants.

An initial air strike late on Sunday killed one policeman, while a follow up strike targeted first responders, killing at least seven, said Rahimullah Khan, commander of the reserve police unit in Uruzgan.

Another official, Uruzgan deputy police chief Mohammed Qawi Omari, put the death toll at six and also reported that the police were killed by a foreign air strike.

The US military command in Kabul confirmed its warplanes had conducted an air strike in the area, but said they targeted “individuals firing on, and posing a threat to” Afghan national security forces.

We don’t have any further information on who those individuals might have been or why they were attacking ANDSF (Afghan National Defence and Security Forces)... US coalition, and Afghan forces have the right to self-defence and in this case were responding to an immediate threat.

US military spokesman Brigadier General Charles Cleveland