2 Italian soldiers missing in Afghanstan

[unhappycamper]

2 Italian soldiers missing in Afghanstan
The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 09/23/2007 05:08:21 AM MDT

KABUL, Afghanistan—Italy's Defense Ministry said Sunday that two Italian military personnel were missing in Afghanistan, and police in the country's west said they were searching for the pair.

The Defense Ministry said that contact had not been established with the two for several hours, that their families had been notified and that an investigation was under way.

The two Italians, their driver and a translator drove through a police checkpoint in the Shindand district of Herat province on Saturday, and they have not had any contact with anyone since, said Gen. Ali Khan Hassanzada, chief of police criminal investigations in western Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, NATO helicopters, responding to a rocket attack at an Afghan army base, fired on a group of suspected insurgents, killing four and wounding 12 others in what may have been a case of mistaken identity, the alliance said Sunday.

The Afghan government and NATO were still trying to determine the "official status" of the casualties, with initial reports indicating they were Afghan police and road construction security guards "dressed in civilian attire and carrying weapons on an uncoordinated patrol," NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement.

"The 12 wounded are civilians, we know that for sure," Afghan army commander Gen. Qadam Shah said.


Rest of article at: http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_6977754