NATO has said its forces accidentally shot dead two Afghan boys in the latest of a series of reports of civilian deaths at the hands of international troops.
The two boys were shot dead when they were mistaken for fighters during an operation in northwest Uruzgan on Thursday, US General Joseph Dunford, the commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said in a statement on Saturday.
"I offer my personal apology and condolences to the family of the boys who were killed," Dunford said.
The shooting in the southern province could further strain the relationship between ISAF and Hamid Karzai, Afghan president, who has demanded US special forces leave another province over allegations of torture.
"The boys were killed when coalition forces fired at what they thought were insurgent forces," he said, adding that a team of Afghan and ISAF investigators visited the village on Saturday and met local leaders.
Speaking to the media, provincial officials said the Australian soldiers were fighting back against Taliban gunfire when the two boys were shot on Thursday morning.
"The children were killed by Australian troops, it was a mistaken incident, not a deliberate one," Amir Mohammad Akhundzada, Uruzgan provincial governor, told the AFP news agency.
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