Police Gun Down Afghan Lawmaker

A member of the Afghan parliament was mistakenly killed in an early morning shootout between his bodyguards and police officers today. Mohammad Yunos Shirnagha, a lawmaker from northern Baghlan province, was killed as he returned to his home in the provincial capital early this morning, the AP reports.

Officers were hiding in an area where they expected militants to transport a wounded Taliban commander, police say. Police shouted for Shimagha's vehicle to stop as it arrived in the area; when his driver failed to do so, a gunfight broke out between police officers and Shirnagha's bodyguards. Afghanistan's chief of counterterrorism has been sent to investigate the incident. (More Afghanistan stories.)