At least nine Afghans, including local policemen, have been killed in clashes with coalition troops in the Farah province of Afghanistan.

The deputy governor of the province, Younus Rasali, said both sides mistook the other for Taliban forces which resulted in fierce fighting.

Coalition forces then called in an airstrike which resulted in casualties among the Afghan police they were mistakenly fighting against.

Final figures of the number of civilians and local security officers killed in the attack are yet to be received.

In a separate incident last night, coalition forces admitted to accidentally killing four Afghan civilians in a mortar attack in a village near the Afghan border.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said it had fired two mortar rounds which had missed their targets. Wounded civilians were taken to an ISAF base for treatment. It added that it "deeply regrets" the accident and announced an investigation into the event.

Nato countries invaded Afghanistan to oust the Taliban in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks and have stayed in the country to help maintain security.

Early this month, there was another spike in tension between coalition members and local forces after local officials said a US airstrike had killed at least 50 civilians attending a wedding.
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