Foreign forces 'kill two' Afghan civilians

GHAZNI, Afghanistan (AFP) — International troops opened fire on a civilian vehicle south of the Afghan capital Wednesday, killing a father and his son, a government official said.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed its troops were involved in the incident in the province of Wardak but said only one person died.

"They opened fire on a civilian vehicle, killing a father and his son and wounding three others in the same vehicle," provincial government spokesman Adam Khan Sirat told AFP.

It was not clear why the troops, travelling past the civilians in a military convoy, had opened fire, he said.

ISAF said one man was killed as his taxi approached troops who were locked in a shoot-out with insurgents.

To try to stop the vehicle, soldiers fired into its engine block.

"At the same time, the vehicle was also caught in the crossfire between insurgents and security forces," it said.

The driver was wounded and died en route to hospital, ISAF said. Two other people were also hurt.

Civilian casualties inflicted in battles between Islamist militants and foreign troops is a sensitive issue in Afghanistan.

In what appears to be the deadliest incident since the 2001 US-led invasion to oust the Taliban regime, Afghan officials said 140 civilians were killed in US air strikes and clashes in the western province of Farah last week.

The US military has acknowledged only that "a number" of civilians died in fighting.