NATO apologizes for killing nine Afghan civilians

In a statement on Wednesday, the coalition said preliminary findings indicate that NATO forces accidentally killed nine civilians in the Pech district of Kunar province on Tuesday. Local officials say nine boys, aged 12 and under, were killed as they were gathering firewood.

NATO has apologized for killing nine civilians in Kunar province, a hotbed of the insurgency in northeast Afghanistan.

In a statement on Wednesday, the coalition said preliminary findings indicate that NATO forces accidentally killed nine civilians in the Pech district of Kunar province on Tuesday. Local officials say nine boys, aged 12 and under, were killed as they were gathering firewood.

The coalition says there apparently was miscommunication in passing information about the location of militants firing on a coalition base.

Top NATO commander Gen. David Petraeus said the coalition was “deeply sorry” for the tragedy and said the deaths should never have occurred. He says he will personally apologize to President Hamid Karzai when he returns from London.