Five Afghan soldiers were killed on Thursday in an air strike by the NATO-led force in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Logar, Afghan officials and the coalition said.
Coalition airstrikes on friendly targets have helped widen a rift between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the United States, cementing his resolve not to sign a bilateral security deal to let U.S. troops remain in the country after 2014.
“We condemn the attack on the Afghan National Army in Logar,” said Aimal Faizi, a spokesman for Karzai. “The president has ordered an investigation.”
The airstrike, at around 3.30 a.m., seriously wounded at least eight other soldiers, said district governor Khalilullah Kamal.
“Right now a discussion in the province is going on between Afghan officials and foreign forces to find out the reason for this attack,” he said, describing the attack as having targeted a new outpost of the Afghan army, Reuters informs.
