October 24th, 2009 7:31 PM
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Four Afghans, including a child
and two women, were killed on Saturday when U.S. forces opened fire on
a car in southern Kandahar city, police said.
A man in the car also was killed when a U.S. military convoy opened
fire on the civilian vehicle, Kandahar police official Shah Agha told
Reuters. He said a U.S. Special Forces convoy appeared to be involved.
A spokeswoman for NATO in Afghanistan was not able to confirm the
nationality of troops involved. A statement from the provincial
governor of Kandahar confirmed the casualties.
A NATO spokesman in Afghanistan said three civilians were killed
and two were wounded when NATO forces fired on the car because it
failed to stop when repeatedly signalled to do so.
The spokesman was unable to confirm if children were among the casualties.
The incident comes while preparations are under way for
Afghanistan's presidential election run-off, which the Taliban vowed
earlier to disrupt and urged Afghans to boycott.
U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal, the new U.S. and NATO
commander in Afghanistan, issued a directive in July stressing the
importance of avoiding civilian casualties, which have undermined
support for the war against the Taliban.
(Reporting by Ismael Sameem; Writing by Golnar Motevalli; Editing by Michael Roddy)
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