US-led NATO occupation forces in Afghanistan killed a young girl as she was trying to flee an attack aimed at capturing a Taliban leader.

US-led NATO occupation forces in Afghanistan killed a young girl as she was trying to flee an attack aimed at capturing a Taliban leader.

Local media reported that the girl, 12 years old, was killed on Wednesday in the eastern province of Nangarhar.
A policeman was also killed during the attack which failed to capture the Taliban leader.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) claimed its forces identified “mistakenly what they suspected was a weapon on the individual,”

The alliance also “apologized” or the incident as saying:  "We are deeply sorry for this tragedy and apologize to the members of the Afghan government, the people of Afghanistan and most importantly, the surviving family members of those killed.”

"We go to great lengths in our operations to reduce civilian casualties to an absolute minimum. We understand any civilian loss of life is detrimental to our cause," ISAF spokesman Rear Admiral Hal Pittman said.