U-S Marines in Afghanistan have given a Muslim burial to an allied Afghan fighter killed in Kandahar by a stray U-S bomb.
A Muslim U-S Marine, Lance Corporal Anis Trabelsi, chanted a prayer in Arabic over the body, which was shrouded in white in keeping with Islamic custom. Seven Marines fired shots as a final salute to the unnamed Afghan fighter.
Marine Major Beau Higgins said Saturday's funeral at Marine Camp Rhino was done in what he called a spirit of tolerance and understanding.
The Marines say the Afghan man died on his way to the U-S-S Peleliu after being wounded by a stray 900-kilogram bomb dropped on Kandahar on Wednesday. That bomb also killed three U-S servicemen and five other Afghan fighters. The unnamed fighter laid to rest had served with Pashtun leader Hamid Karzai, who has been named as Afghanistan's post-Taleban interim leader.