Friendly Fire Claims 4 Afghan Soldiers

A joint patrol of Afghan and NATO forces on a mission in Wardak province took fire in early morning darkness Saturday, and so they returned fire and called in an airstrike. It was only then that they realized the shooting had come from an Afghan Army outpost. Four Afghan soldiers died, and others were wounded, prompting the Afghan Defense Ministry to call for an investigation “to bring those responsible to justice.” A spokesman for the provincial government in Wardak said, "They thought they were insurgents and opened fire on each other… It was all a misunderstanding." The governor of Wardak said, “There is confusion about what happened there,” while the coalition forces released a statement calling the attack a “regrettable incident.”