Originally published on August 2, 2013

A NATO helicopter mistakenly fired on and killed five Afghan police on July 31 after the men called in air support when they came under insurgent attack.

Afghan police were stationed at a highway checkpoint in the Nangarhar province, 120 km from the capital, Kabul. The men came under insurgent attack and called for air support from coalition NATO forces.

The exact circumstances of what happened are not clear, but a US-flown helicopter arrived at the scene.

For some reason it's crew mistakenly engaged the Afghan national forces, inadvertently killing five men and injuring two.

Unintended Afghan deaths caused by Western air strikes are a serious source of friction between the Afghan government and its Western allies. In the past, Afghan troops have been instructed not to call them in.


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