by the Wall Street Journal | March 2, 2013
Two young brothers out gathering firewood died after being shot by weapons from a NATO helicopter, U.S. officials said Saturday.
The American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., issued an apology, saying the killings were an accident.
Toor Jan, 11 years old, and Andul Wodood, 12, had been walking behind their donkeys in Oruzgan Province when the helicopter fired on them, Afghan officials said. The two donkeys were also killed.
General Dunford said that coalition forces thought they were firing on insurgent forces, and killed the boys by accident.
This article originally appeared in the Wall Street Journal on March 2, 2013.