Children killed in Kabul mortar accident

By Diana Muriel
CNN

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Four Afghan civilians were killed and three were injured during a military training exercise Friday afternoon when they wandered into the range of a mortar fired by an Afghan National Army battalion, coalition military sources told CNN.

Most of the casualties are believed to be children, said the sources, who are close to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

The civilians were searching for scrap metal on the vast, unfenced training area outside of Kabul.

The U.S Army, who was training the Afghan battalion, followed all the procedures for warning nearby villagers, the sources said, including firing a warning flare and posting guards on the main road outside the camp.

The Afghan battalion is in its eighth week of a 10-week training program.

The troops were instructed to fire a mortar over a hill at an unseen target, which was a ruined building, when they discovered the civilians had been hit.

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