Foreign troops mistakenly kill Afghan police chief

Kandahar: Foreign troops killed a former provincial police chief in southern Afghanistan during an overnight clash that also left two of his bodyguards dead, an official said on Thursday.

Troops battled with Ruzi Khan Barakzai, the former police chief of Uruzgan province, near the provincial capital of Tirin Kot, said Uruzgan's deputy police chief Ghulab Khan Wardak.

Barakzai was called to a house of his friend, which was surrounded by foreign troops late on Wednesday, Wardak said.

After he arrived with his guards at the house, a clash with foreign troops erupted in which Barakzai and two of his bodyguards were killed, Wardak said. Two other of Barakzai's bodyguards were wounded.

Nato's International Security Assistance Force said its troops were involved in an incident in Uruzgan on Wednesday night, but did not have more details. Dutch Nato troops are based in Uruzgan.

In a statement, President Hamid Karzai "expressed his regret" over the killing of Barakzai, which he said was a result of "misunderstanding between foreign and local forces." He did not elaborate.

Barakzai was a tribal leader and a militia commander in Uruzgan.