KABUL (AFP) — Two Afghan women and two children were killed when NATO soldiers were attacked by insurgents in southern Afghanistan and returned fire, the alliance force said Wednesday.
International Security Assistance Force troops were shot at Tuesday and immediately fired back, ISAF said in a statement.
"Tragically, a group of civilians received fire causing the death of two women and two children," the statement said.
A number of the attackers were also killed but no ISAF soldiers were harmed, it said, giving no details.
Ten other civilians were taken to an ISAF base where a wounded child was treated.
The statement did not say in which part of southern Afghanistan the incident had occurred or make clear if the civilians were killed by NATO soldiers or the insurgents.
"No matter the cause, we deeply regret the loss of innocent life and injuries sustained to the civilians," said ISAF spokesman, Brigadier General Carlos Branco. "We will continue to determine what happened."
Civilian casualties by international soldiers helping the Afghan government defeat a Taliban-led uprising is deeply sensitive and President Hamid Karzai has regularly called on the troops to take more care.
ISAF, an alliance of about 40 nations with about 50,000 soldiers, said it was "saddened that casualties were caused as a result of a deliberate attack against ISAF forces instigated by insurgents."
However, the force "will always maintain the right of self defence," it said.
Meanwhile, a car bomb struck a NATO military convoy in Afghanistan's southern city of Kandahar on Wednesday, causing several casualties, an AFP reporter said.
The powerful blast damaged an armoured vehicle, which appeared to belong to the Canadian military, and set a small house alight, the reporter said.
Several bloodied bodies were rushed from the site but it was not immediately clear if there were any dead among the casualties, he said.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force and the Canadian military said they did not immediately have information about the attack.
Afghan officials could not be reached for confirmation br/dk/tha
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