Herat: Nine Afghan policemen were killed in international military air strikes called in after troops clashed with police in southwestern Afghanistan, provincial authorities said on Sunday.

The fighting erupted in the western province of Farah in the early hours of the morning when police apparently mistook Afghan and Nato soldiers for Taliban militants, deputy provincial governor Mohammad Younus Rasouli said.

"The ANA (Afghan National Army) requested air support, and ISAF (NATO's International Security Assistance Force) bombed the police post that killed nine police and injured five police," he said.