Troops accidentally kill 3 Afghan policemen

updated 8:25 a.m. ET June 21, 2006

KABUL, Afghanistan - Coalition soldiers accidentally fired on an unmarked police car in eastern Afghanistan, killing three Afghan policemen and wounding three, the U.S. military said Wednesday.

The shooting happened Tuesday at a checkpoint in eastern Kunar province when a car approached without slowing down, Col. Tom Collins said during a press briefing in the capital, Kabul.

Coalition soldiers saw that the occupants, who were not in uniform, were armed and “felt they were in immediate danger so they opened fire on the vehicle,” he said.

Collins said the U.S.-led coalition “regrets the incident.”

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