U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan say Friday they inadvertently killed
four women and a child while battling militants in central Afghanistan.
A
U.S. military spokeswoman, Lieutenant Colonel Rumi Nelson-Green, says
the civilians were killed Thursday as troops moved in on a key Taliban
militant in the Giro district of central Ghazni province.
She
says armed militants threatened coalition forces, which responded with
small-arms fire, killing several Taliban as well as the women and the
child. Three militants were arrested.
The U.S. military called the deaths "inadvertent" and promised a full investigation.
About
2,500 people, including civilians, have been killed so far this
year during fighting between coalition forces and militants.
Meanwhile, officials say a coalition soldier died Friday in western Afghanistan when his convoy was hit by a bomb.
More
than 500 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan since 2001, when
the U.S. military helped oust the Taliban-led government.
Pentagon
officials say U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has endorsed a
$20-billion plan that would nearly double the size of the Afghan army
to 120,000 troops over the next five years. The plan also gives U.S.
Army General David McKiernan broader control over U.S. forces in
Afghanistan.
General McKiernan currently commands 45,000 troops
in the NATO-led coalition serving in Afghanistan. The proposal would
also give him control of 19,000 U.S. troops serving outside of
NATO.
