US Friendly-Fire Air Strike Kills 16 Afghan Police Officers

American planes "mistakenly" hit a unit of Afghan National Police officers who were fighting the Taliban and wounded two others.

Helmand provincial police chief, Abdul Ghafar Safi, said that the death toll in Friday's airstrike was determined after an inspection of the site in Gereshk District.

The Pentagon confirmed the airstrike on the Security Forces compound happened during a US-supported operation against Taliban insurgents in the area, and offered its condolences to the families of the security forces who were killed.

While much of Helmand province is under the control of Taliban, Afghan national security forces have been waging fierce battles to retake territory.

Nato and US troops are currently in Helmand to assist Afghan troops.

Mr Safi told The Associated Press that the dead were police officers who were operating with the army in the area and had recaptured the post from the Taliban when the airstrike occurred.

The Helmand governor, Hayatullah Hayat, said it was believed the police officers were not in uniform, which may have resulted in mistakenly identifying them as Taliban fighters.