NATO airstrike accidentally kills five Afghan soldiers

PULI ALAM: A North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) airstrike in eastern Afghanistan accidentally killed five Afghan soldiers on Thursday, the latest incident likely to worsen already fraught relations between Kabul and the United States-led coalition.

NATO offered its condolences over the deaths and vowed action to avoid further mistakes, but President Hamid Karzai has often seized on botched airstrikes to launch bitter criticism of the international military effort in Afghanistan.