NATO troops fire on vehicle, kill 4 unarmed Afghans

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/20/AR2010042000975.html?hpid=moreheadlines

NATO troops fire on vehicle, kill 4 unarmed Afghans

By Jonathon Burch
Reuters
Tuesday, April 20, 2010; 5:56 AM

KABUL (Reuters) - NATO-led troops opened fire on a vehicle in southeastern Afghanistan, killing four unarmed men, the alliance said on Tuesday, the latest in series of incidents in recent weeks the United Nations has called disturbing.

The issue of civilian casualties caused by foreign forces is an emotive one in Afghanistan and has undermined public support for their presence in the country.

In the latest incident, troops fired on the vehicle after it accelerated toward their convoy in Khost province and ignored light signals and warning shots, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said in a statement.

"The vehicle continued to accelerate. Several rounds were fired in an attempt to disable the vehicle, and finally shots were fired into the vehicle itself," NATO said in the statement.


The statement described the men who had been killed as two "known insurgents" and two "associates," but a spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Todd Vician, said all may have been civilians.

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