Australian troops accused of killing man, boy in Afghan raid

Australian forces were accused of killing an Afghan man and boy during a military operation in Uruzgan province in September, the Sydney Morning Herald said. An Australian Defense Department spokesman said the Afghan government and International Security Assistance Force officials were told of the incident, but declined further comment, the Herald reported Thursday. The operation took place Sept. 27 in the Bulagh district west of Tarinkot, the capital of the province in central Afghanistan. Locals allege the father and boy died when Australian soldiers fired down through a roof into the home next to the location where an insurgent was suspected of hiding. The 6-year-old boy and the man had bullet wounds and were found beneath blankets in a bed, and had signs that they had received medical attention, Khaama Press reported. Farid Hayel, a spokesman for Uruzgan police chief Matiullah Khan, said Wednesday the dead adult was a member of the Taliban who would have used the boy as a shield, the Herald reported. Khaama Press said investigations into the killings have begun.