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Australian special forces soldiers in Afghanistan may have shot dead a district Governor and close ally of Afghan President Hamid Karzai after he and his bodyguards were mistaken for Taleban insurgents.
The Australian Defence Force said yesterday that Governor Rozi Khan died in Thursday's incident.
"The ADF can confirm that Chora district Governor and tribal leader, Rozi Khan, was among those killed. It is not possible at this time to determine that he was killed by ADF fire," it said in a statement.
It appears to be the latest in a series of incidents in which coalition troops have inadvertently killed Afghan civilians.
The ADF said it was working closely with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan authorities who would launch a joint investigation. A separate ADF investigation would also be launched.
The ADF said it appeared Australian forces had acted in accordance with their rules of engagement and their actions were appropriate for the situation.
"Initial ADF reporting indicates that the Special Operations Task Group (SOTG) patrol was moving on foot towards a subsequent activity when they were fired on from a number of locations by unknown attackers. The SOTG patrol returned fire in self-defence."
Defence said a number of groups, including Afghan National Police personnel, were in the vicinity.
The Netherlands Defence Ministry said the firefight involved Afghan police, Australian ISAF soldiers, Taleban fighters and local militiamen.
A DPA newsagency report from Kabul quoted Oruzgan province deputy police chief Gholub Wardak who said the Governor was called to the house of a friend who believed himself surrounded by Taleban militants.
"Actually the man's house was surrounded by Australian forces and when Rozi Khan and his men arrived there, the foreign forces mistook them for Taleban and opened fire at them."
He said the Governor and two of his bodyguards were killed. Two other bodyguards were wounded.
Khan, a Mujahideen commander during the war against Soviet forces in the 1980s, had also served as provincial police chief after the fall of the Taleban regime in late 2001.
He was elected the new district leader in the first free election in the southern district of Chora on June 7. Khan won with a majority of 851 votes, almost a third of the vote.
In a statement, Karzai said Khan was a close colleague during his resistance to the Taleban. His death was a great loss and stemmed from a "misunderstanding between international forces and local troops".
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he would reserve comment until more facts became known. "The facts are unclear at this stage, according to my advice," he said.
- AAP
