Afghan MP says family shot in coalition misfire

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, July 7 (Reuters) A member of the Afghan parliament today said U S-led troops mistakenly fired on a car carrying members of his family, killing one and wounding four.

The US-led coalition denied that its troops were responsible for the shooting of the politician's family in the southern province of Uruzgan.

In a separate incident, insurgents ambushed US-led troops in the southern province of Helmand, killing one and wounding another, the US military said. Sixty-four foreign soldiers have been killed this year in Afghan combat or accidents on patrol.

US forces have mounted big offensives in eastern and southern Afghanistan in recent weeks in response to the most intense Taliban attacks since the hardline Islamists were ousted from power in 2001.

Abdul Khaliq, a member of the lower house of parliament from Uruzgan, said U.S.-led troops opened fire on a car carrying his relatives in the province's Chora district on Wednesday.

He said the troops gave the driver no warning before firing.

''Coalition troops are not behaving well. They're causing insecurity and violence,'' Khaliq told Reuters.

Khaliq said his brother-in-law was killed and his wife, a daughter, a son and a nephew were wounded.

The nephew, Nematullah, said from a hospital bed in the southern city of Kandahar U.S. troops had kept on firing after the initial shooting.

''We got out of the car and hid behind it ... for an hour they fired at us.'' He said he was wounded by shrapnel in the shooting.

The US-led coalition said the only encounter its forces had in that area that day was with four Taliban on foot who fled after coalition troops returned their fire.

''Coalition forces are confident the coalition is not responsible for this attack,'' said the spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Fitzpatrick.

The claim could be ''extremist propaganda'', he said.

''HUMANITARIAN?'' There have been numerous clashes between US-led troops and Taliban in Uruzgan in recent weeks. The province is part of the south where a NATO peacekeeping force will soon take over from the US-led coalition force.

An accidental shooting would likely add to simmering resentment of foreigners among many Afghans who say their lives have not improved since the Taliban were ousted.

Bloody anti-foreign and anti-government riots erupted in Kabul last month after a US military vehicle caused a deadly traffic accident.

Nematullah said the U.S. troops offered no aid or assistance after they saw they had attacked civilians including women.

''They claim to be humanitarian, is that humanitarian?'' The latest foreign soldier to be killed in Afghanistan was in a convoy attacked in the southern province of Helmand yesterday night.

A US spokesman did not identify the soldier killed or one wounded but said six insurgents were killed when coalition forces returned fire.

Three Taliban were killed elsewhere in Helmand on Thursday night when a mine they were planting went off, said provincial police chief Nabi Mullahkhail. He said 11 Taliban including a district commander were killed when they attacked security posts.

REUTERS SY KP2121