The mistaken killing of civilians by foreign troops is a major source of friction between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Western backers, and complicates efforts to win support from ordinary Afghans for an increasingly unpopular war.
So-called "night raids" cause deep anger and resentment among Afghans, due to mistaken killings and what many see as an attack on their dignity.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said it was conducting an operation with Afghan troops in Surkh Rud district of eastern Nangarhar province on Wednesday to capture a Taliban leader.
When the troops arrived at the suspected compound of the Taliban leader, they called for all the people inside to exit peacefully, ISAF said in a statement.
"One man then threatened the security force with a pistol; the security force defended themselves, killing the man. After initial assessment, it was discovered that he was employed by the Afghan National Police," it said.
Following the shooting, the troops moved inside the compound to secure the area when a woman thought to be carrying a weapon ran out of the back of the compound, ISAF said.
"The security force mistakenly identified what they suspected was a weapon on the individual and engaged. Later, the force discovered the individual was an unarmed Afghan female adolescent," it said.
The spokesman for the provincial governor, Ahmadzia Abdulzai, said the troops had arrived by helicopter during the night and killed the man, a police detective, inside his house, adding the incident was under investigation.
The latest civilian deaths come at a time of high anti-Western sentiment, a month after protests against the burning of a Koran by a fundamentalist U.S. pastor turned violent, killing seven foreign U.N. staffers.
Despite the presence of around 150,000 foreign troops, violence across Afghanistan last year reached its worst levels since the Taliban were overthrown in late 2001, with record casualties on all sides of the conflict.
The Taliban this month announced the start of a long-awaited "spring offensive", vowing to carry out attacks, including suicide bombings on foreign and Afghan troops and government officials.
(Uu.B002)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
