Nato admits Afghan civilian deaths

The Nato-led force in Afghanistan has admitted the killing of five Afghan civilians, including three women, during a botched night raid on a home in Paktia province in February.

Nato said its troops, in a joint patrol with Afghan soldiers, had entered the house on in Gardez district on February 12, believing an armed fighter was inside.

They killed the two men because they carried weapons, although later leaned they were not Taliban fighters.

"We now understand that the men killed were only trying to protect their families," Brigadier General Eric Tremblay, a spokesman for Nato-led forces, said on Monday.

The three women were killed during the shooting, Nato said.

Nato had earlier said its troops had found the women already killed, bound and gagged, but later acknowledged that this was untrue.

Troops who visited the scene had made the mistake after seeing the bodies bound in preparation for burial, it said.

PHOTO CAPTION

US Marines in Helmand Province of Afghanistan in 2009.

Agencies

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