NATO airstrike kills six policemen in southern Afghanistan

Dec 10, 2008, 8:17 GMT

Kabul - A NATO airstrike accidentally killed six Afghan police and wounded 11 others Wednesday after their post came under rebel attack and the alliance's air force was called in for support, a provincial official said.

'A NATO plane came in, mistakenly bombed the police post, and killed six police, including the commander of the post,' Gholam Jailani Farahi, deputy provincial police chief, said

Taliban militants fired rockets on the post in Qalat, the capital of the southern province of Zabul on Wednesday, causing no casualties, Farahi said

Farahi said 11 other police officers were wounded by the NATO airstrike. The police station collapsed.

NATO military spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.

Dozens of Afghan police and army soldiers have been killed in attacks by mistaken US and NATO attacks in Afghanistan in the past, or what the military calls 'friendly fire.'

Afghan officials have warned that the mounting numbers of Afghan troops killed and wounded by US and NATO forces could strain ties between the allies in their war against Taliban rebels.