Afghans: 7 soldiers killed by NATO strike

KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- A NATO air strike killed seven Afghan security force members searching for two missing U.S. soldiers, officials said Saturday.

A spokesman for NATO confirmed the deaths, first reported by the Afghan Defense Ministry, The New York Times reported. The spokesman said the operation Friday in Badghis province also wounded five U.S. and 15 Afghan soldiers, two Afghan police officers and an Afghan civilian who was part of the mission, which arrived in the area Thursday.

NATO is investigating whether its air support was responsible for the deaths and injuries.

A Taliban commander gave his own version of events, the Times said. Maulvi Ghulam Farouk says the missing soldiers were attacked by the Taliban when they went to pick up supplies from an air drop.

"On Friday, they came with Afghan forces, looking again for their dead soldiers. It was afternoon when they came, and there was fighting for half an hour or maybe even one hour," Farouk said. "Then the aircraft came. And when the aircraft came, we Taliban dispersed and they bombed where the Afghans and their NATO soldiers had been fighting. There were many casualties."