KABUL: An Afghan military official says a Nato airstrike has killed four Afghan soldiers in the country’s south, mistaking them for militants.

A spokesman for the Defense Ministry says the Afghan soldiers had left their base in Helmand province on Wednesday night for a patrol when they came under fire from Nato planes.

Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi says Nato told the Afghan government that the coalition thought the men were militants.

A spokesman for Nato forces, Capt. Ciro Parisi of the Italian army, says they have sent a team to investigate the incident.