NATO Patrol Kills Elderly Man in Search

A NATO-led patrol shot dead an elderly Afghan man after he refused to leave a house during a search for Taliban leaders, and rockets hit the military annex of Kabul airport, the alliance said Monday.

The man was shot in Wardak province, southwest of Kabul, during the operation by Afghan and foreign soldiers on Sunday, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

Civilian casualties are an incendiary issue in Afghanistan, often used by Afghan politicians and the Taliban to inflame public anger at the presence of foreign troops.

ISAF said it had intelligence of militant activity in a village in the Chaki Wardak district of Wardak province, which is a known staging post for assaults on the capital by Taliban-linked insurgents.

"Despite repeated requests in Dari, Pashtu and Urdu by the joint security force for all individuals to exit their residences, an individual was found inside one of the buildings," it said in a statement.

"The assault force reacted to what they thought was hostile intent and shot the individual," it said, adding: "It was subsequently determined the individual was an elderly man.

"No individuals were detained during this operation."

ISAF leaders will meet local officials and compensate the family of the dead man, the statement said.

The commander of foreign troops in Afghanistan, U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has introduced tactical changes in an effort to reduce civilian casualties, such as paring back air strikes and raids on residences.

The United Nations has said that the overwhelming majority of civilian deaths -- put last year at 2,412 -- are caused by Taliban assaults, usually through crude bombings and suicide attacks.

Separately, ISAF said two rockets hit the military annex of Kabul's international airport on Sunday, with a third landing outside the perimeter.

A fourth rocket landed in the Pul-e-Charke district of eastern Kabul, an area of military bases, it said, adding it had no reports of casualties at the airport.