The US military is to re-open an investigation into civilian deaths in a coalition air strike in western Afghanistan last month after evidence emerged suggesting scores of civilians were killed.
The US had earlier disputed an Afghan government allegation that more than 90 people, many of them women and children, died in the August 22 raid in western Herat's Shindand district, a figure backed by the United Nations
But late yesterday, the US issued a statement saying it was seeking a review of its original finding that five to seven civilians had died in the operation.
"In light of emerging evidence pertaining to civilian casualties in the August 22 counter-insurgency operation in the Shindand District, Herat province, I feel it is prudent to request that US Central Command send a general officer to review the US investigation and its findings with respect to this new evidence," said General David McKiernan, the most senior US officer in Afghanistan.
"The people of Afghanistan have our commitment to get to the truth."
He did not say what new evidence had emerged. At the Pentagon today, spokesman Bryan Whitman said the new evidence was "imagery" but would not be more specific.
"There is some evidence that suggests that the evidence that the United States military used in the conduct of its investigation may not have been complete," he said.
The New York Times reported yesterday mobile phone videos and other images showed bodies of women and children laid out in the village mosque where the strike occurred.
It said its reporter had seen mobile phone images shot by a villager of at least 11 dead children, some apparently with blast and concussion injuries. Ten days after the airstrikes, villagers dug up the last victim from the rubble, a baby just a few months old, it said.
An Afghan doctor who runs a clinic in a nearby village told the newspaper he counted 50 to 60 bodies of civilians, most of them women and children and some of them his own patients, laid out in the village mosque on the day of the strike.
The US military said earlier its investigation found that 30 to 35 Taliban militants were killed, including a commander, in the US-led coalition air strike.
"There is some evidence that suggests that the evidence that the United States military used in the conduct of its investigation may not have been complete.
It said its findings were based on video taken during the operation and topographic photo comparisons of the area before and after the strikes, including analysis of burial sites in the area.
Reports from local clinics and hospitals were also examined, the military said.
More than 500 civilians have been killed during operations by foreign and Afghan forces against the militants so far this year, according to the Afghan government and some aid groups, fuelling public anger and driving a wedge between the government and its Western backers.
REUTERS