Probe into family’s ‘we were shot at’ claim

British military and Afghan police were today investigating a family’s claims that they were shot at by British paratroopers in Kabul.

The Afghan family say they were unarmed and taking a pregnant woman to hospital when they suddenly came under fire from the British troops on Saturday.

Six British soldiers reported that they returned fire after being shot at as they manned an observation post.

One 20-year-old man’s body was found near the scene of the skirmish but none of the paratroopers were injured.

The Afghan civilians insisted they had been unarmed when the ‘‘unprovoked’’ attack was launched at them.

A group said they had tried to take a 21-year-old woman named Faria to hospital to give birth when they came under fire at about 1.20am.

Her husband, Mohammed Isaq, 25, his 20-year-old brother Amaun, who was killed, the woman’s mother-in-law and a neighbour, who was driving, were all in the car when the shooting started, they said.

Amaun Isaq’s uncle, Mohammed Din, said he had witnessed the start of the shooting, saying: ‘‘They started shooting after the car engine started and the lights were turned on.’’

He said Amaun died instantly and the driver was wounded.

A joint patrol of peacekeepers and Afghan police found a car riddled with gunshots near the family’s house.

Mr Isaq, the pregnant woman’s husband, said his brother was already dead when the patrol arrived, his wife had given birth, and he was wounded in one arm.

‘‘We did not have any weapons of any kind,’’ he said, adding: ‘‘We did not hear any gunfire until we ourselves were shot.

‘‘We were only trying to take my wife to the hospital.’’

His wife had superficial shrapnel wounds to her neck and knee but her baby son seemed to be healthy, he said.

Captain Graham Dunlop, a spokesman for the British-led force, said the six-man British patrol fired shots only after they themselves had been shot at.

‘‘The soldiers identified the firing point and they returned fire,’’ he said.

He said there was more than one gunshot, but did not know how many rounds the soldiers fired.

He confirmed that the patrol had found the dead man, a woman and baby and two other men in the house.

They were all taken to hospital for treatment for injuries and no weapons were found at the house, he said.

Interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai said the situation was not clear but that there was ‘‘some sort of incident of firing’’ in which one or two shots were fired at the peacekeepers’ post.

It was thought to have been the first time the British-led international security force has come under fire.

The paratroopers, from the 2nd Battalion, have since been removed from the Kabul observation post, a Ministry of Defence spokesman said.