Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s relative killed by NATO forces during night raid

An elderly relative of Afghan President Hamid Karzai was shot dead by NATO forces during a botched night raid in southern Afghanistan Thursday, Karzai's brother said, stoking controversy over the war's civilian toll.

The mistaken killing of civilians by NATO troops is one of the most persistent sources of friction between Karzai and his Western backers, and was back in the spotlight this month after Washington offered a rare apology for the death of nine Afghan boys gunned down by helicopters while collecting firewood.

Yar Mohammad Khan, a cousin of President Karzai's father, was shot dead when he emerged from his house during a raid by foreign troops in Kandahar, said provincial council head Ahmad Wali Karzai, who is also the president's brother.

"While the operation was going on in the area, Khan walked out of his house and he was shot dead by mistake by ISAF forces outside his house," he told Reuters. He said Khan's house, in the Dand district of Kandahar, was not the target of the raid.