Nato admits killing Afghan women in bungled raid

Nato confirmed that international troops were responsible for the deaths of five civilians, including three women, in February. Such killings have inflamed frictions between the government of President Hamid Karzai and his Western backers.
A Nato statement said a joint international-Afghan patrol fired on two men mistakenly believed to be insurgents in the Feb. 12 incident in Gardez, south of Kabul. It said the three women were "accidentally killed as a result of the joint force firing at the men."
Family members said they were awaiting formal notice of the Nato admission.
Meanwhile, Nato forces said they killed 10 militants in a raid on a compound near the Pakistani border early yesterday, while gunmen seriously wounded an Afghan provincial councilwoman in a drive-by shooting in the country's increasingly violent north.
In Monday's raid, which began around 2 am (2130 GMT), US troops backed by Afghan army and police forces moved on a compound in Nangarhar province's Khogyani district after receiving reports of militant activity there, the international forces command said in another statement.
They were fired on with heavy weapons and 10 militants were killed and one wounded in the ensuing fire fight, the statement said. A search of the compound found automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, material for building roadside bombs, and communications equipment, Nato said. It said no civilians were harmed in the operation.