US jet bombs Afghan police: 12 killed
A US-led coalition plane mistakenly dropped a bomb on a police patrol in eastern Afghanistan Thursday, killing 12 policemen, a commander said, as President Hamid Karzai angrily condemned the incident.
The coalition, which has been hunting down Taliban and other insurgents in the war-torn country for nearly five years, confirmed "an event did happen" and said it was collecting details.
The bomb struck a patrol near the border with Pakistan in eastern Paktika province, provincial border police regiment commander Abdul Hamid said.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. "They came under US bombardment and 12 policemen were killed, including the police commander," he said.
The coalition, which has been searching for Taliban insurgents in the province, had apparently come under earlier attack, he said. "They may have mistaken our convoy for the enemy."
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