Civilian motorcyclist killed by Nato troops in Afghanistan

Nato troops shot and killed a motorcyclist travelling at a high speed as his vehicle approached a security cordon in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said today.

Troops in Kandahar city gave the motorcyclist verbal warnings to stop yesterday but he did not, Nato said in a statement.

Nato forces "fired a warning shot in a safe direction, which ricocheted and hit the civilian," the statement said.

The civilian was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Nato forces in four different incidents last month killed at least five civilians after firing on their vehicles during security patrols.

Earlier this month British forces speeding away from the scene of a Taliban suicide attack in Kandahar opened fire on cars, killing at least one civilian and injuring around six.

Mark Laity, a Nato spokesman, said today that troops take extra measures to minimise the risk to civilians.

"When something does happen - and it does I'm afraid - we are not only upset, we do not only apologise, we investigate to see what steps we can take to minimise the risk in the future," he said.

Maj Luke Knittig, a spokesman for Nato's International Security Assistance Force, said troops will work more closely with Afghan security forces who know the people and area better than international troops.

Afghan officials would also be briefed more fully about upcoming operations so they can point out potential problems in advance, he said.

Nato yesterday said four militants and a teenage girl were killed during an early morning raid by Afghan and US-led coalition forces in the eastern province of Khost.

But a police official today disputed that account, saying only civilians in the home were targeted. The official asked not to be named for fear of retribution from US officials.

Nato also said today that "several" insurgents were killed last Friday in a firefight in Laghman province.