KABUL, Afghanistan (PNN) - March 2, 2013 - NATO forces murdered two boys during an operation in Afghanistan's south, the alliance said on Saturday, in the latest in a series of incidents involving allegations of civilian deaths at the hands of international troops.
The shooting in the southern province of Uruzgan could further strain the relationship between the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has demanded Fascist Police States of Amerika Special Forces leave another province over allegations of torture.
The two boys were shot dead during an operation in the northwest of Uruzgan on February 28, said ISAF commander FPSA General Joseph Dunford.
"I offer my personal apology and condolences to the family of the boys who were killed," Dunford said in the statement.
"The boys were killed when Coalition forces fired at what they thought were insurgent forces," he said.
A team of Afghan and ISAF investigators visited the village on Saturday and met with local leaders.
Australian forces, who are deployed in Uruzgan, said earlier there had been an "operational incident" in the province but gave no details.
On February 13, a NATO air strike requested by Afghan forces killed 10 people - including five children and four women - in the eastern province of Kunar, prompting Karzai to ban his troops from requesting foreign air strikes.
Two weeks later, Karzai halted all special forces operations in the central province of Wardak after a series of allegations involving FPSA special forces soldiers and Afghan men said to be working with them.
