Afghan civillian killed by Nato soldiers

Nato soldiers today opened fire on a civilian car they perceived as a threat, killing one Afghan, a Nato statement said.

The shooting happened about a mile outside Kandahar airfield, the largest military base in southern Afghanistan. Nato said the vehicle “failed to heed warnings to stop”.

The Afghan was at least the eighth civilian to be killed since November 15 by gunfire from Nato soldiers on public roads.

Six of those civilians died after troops on security patrols fired on their vehicles.

A seventh died on December 3, when British troops speeding away from a suicide bombing opened fire in Kandahar city, according to witnesses. Witnesses and doctors said at least one Afghan was killed and six wounded.

Military officials have said that the troops were acting in self-defence in all cases.

Elsewhere in Kandahar province, one driver was killed and three wounded when armed men in four trucks attacked a convoy of four oil tankers on their way to the Nato base outside Kandahar, said Habibullah Khan, the chief of Thakhapul district.

The trucks were damaged in the attack, but not set on fire, he said. The four drivers were Pakistani, he said.