Friendly Fire Incident Kills Five Afghan Troops, One Police Officer

Officials in Kabul say "inaccurate information from ground forces" was to blame for an errant air strike by an Afghan military helicopter that killed five Afghan soldiers and a police officer in western Afghanistan late on September 30.

The friendly fire incident occurred after government forces called for air support in a battle against insurgents in the Bala Buluk district of Farah Province, the Defense Ministry said.

The ministry had initially blamed hard-line Taliban fighters for the deaths.

It said investigators were looking into how the mistake happened.

The incident came after United Nations and Afghan officials blamed U.S. forces for an air strike two days earlier that killed at least 15 civilians in eastern Nangarhar Province.

Based on reporting by AP and dpa