Pentagon admits capturing wrong people in commando raid

American forces have determined they captured the wrong people in a commando raid in Afghanistan.

US forces captured 27 people in a raid on a suspected al-Qaida hide-out on January 23.

They have been handed over to the interim Afghan government.

A US investigation to determine if some 15 killed in the raid were Taliban and al-Qaida figures is continuing.

US military spokesman, Major Ralph Mills, said of those released: "We were able to determine that they were not Taliban forces and they were not affiliated with al-Qaida."

General Tommy Franks, commander in chief of US Central Command, has ordered an investigation in response to assertions by Afghan government officials that anti-Taliban people were among those killed or captured. Officials have been unwilling to say if US forces misidentified the targeted compounds.

Major Mills says the men "were not wearing uniforms, were carrying weapons and they fired upon US forces in uniform."

Asked if intelligence information that prompted the raid has been determined faulty, Major Mills said: "Obviously, we had a reason to go into that area. We still stand firmly on that reason."

Local Afghans say some of those killed were anti-Taliban forces loyal to Hamid Karzai, the head of the interim Afghan government, and that among those arrested were a police chief, his deputy and members of a district council. They labelled the raid a tragic case of mistaken identities.

Asked to confirm claims that two of those captured were police officials, Major Mills said: "We do believe that some of them were criminals (so) decided we will not release names or other identifying information."