Officials are reporting that French troops in Afghanistan have shot and killed three civilians. The attack was made after the car they were travelling in failed to stop at a check point and troops opened fire.
The ambassador for France has apologised for the killings and concluded that no apology can bring the dead back.
There are approximately 4000 French troops serving in Afghanistan and Sarkozy has said he wants to withdraw 1000 of these by the close of 2012.
Repeated warnings were ignored by the civilian driver of the vehicle to stop at the clearly marked checkpoint. As a result, the French troops opened fire inside the car killing three civilian, one of which was pregnant.
The amount of unrest in Afghanistan coupled with civilians not knowing who to trust, civilian casualties are inevitable. The fact that very often, it is hard to tell civilians from Taliban makes it all the more difficult.