Nato troops shoot Afghan boy

2007-03-23 11:21

Kabul - Nato troops shot and killed a 12-year-old Afghan boy who was in a car with his family in Kabul, the government said on Friday, in the latest in a series of civilian deaths involving foreign forces.

Nato's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed there had been an incident late on Thursday but said it could not comment until a military police investigation was completed.

"Nato forces opened fire at a Townace civilian vehicle which apparently tried to overtake the troops or maybe the car was too close to the troops," interior ministry spokesperson Zemarai Bashary told AFP.

"A bullet hit a 12-year-old child in the car. The child was apparently driving with his family," he said.

The attack was on the eastern route out of the city, a road which sees most of the suicide attacks in Kabul because it is frequently used by foreign troops.

Warnings

Soldiers with ISAF and the separate US-led coalition, nervous of suicide car bombings and other attacks, have shot dozens of civilians who have been travelling too close to their convoys.

The troops usually fire warnings shots first and some have fixed notices to their vehicles warning civilians to keep their distance. But Afghans say many of them drive and behave aggressively.

In one of the worst incidents, eight civilians were killed when US troops opened fire after a suicide bombing near the eastern city of Jalalabad March 4.

The coalition said the civilians were killed in the attack and return fire by its troops, but witnesses said they were all killed by the foreign forces. The results of an investigation have yet to be announced.

ISAF said in a statement late on Thursday meanwhile that one of its convoys had hit and killed a child in the eastern province of Khost. The child had darted out from the side of the road, it said.

- AFP