US orders new review into Afghan civilian deaths

The US military says it has new information about an American attack that Afghanistan says killed 90 civilians and is sending a senior military officer to the country to review its initial conclusion that no more than seven people died.

The US military did not say what new information had emerged. But Afghan and Western officials say Afghanistan’s intelligence agency and the United Nations have videos of the aftermath of the air strikes on Azizabad village, showing dozens of dead women and children.

An Afghan government commission has said 90 civilians, including 60 children and 15 women, died in the August 22 bombings, a finding that the UN backed in its own initial report.

But a US investigation released on Tuesday said only up to seven civilians and 35 militants were killed in the operation in the western province of Herat.

A UN official who has seen one video of Azizabad said it showed maimed children. The official became highly emotional describing rows of bodies.

A second Western official has said one video shows bodies of “tens of children” lined up. He called the video “gruesome”. The two officials spoke anonymously because the videos had not been released publicly.

Although the US said on Tuesday its investigation was complete, the military at that time appeared to leave open the possibility that photographs or video of the scene could emerge. American officials said privately last week that they were aware photographic evidence apparently existed, but that they did not have access to it.

“No other evidence that may have been collected by other organisations was provided to the US investigating officer and therefore could not be considered in the findings,” the initial US report said.

But yesterday, General David McKiernan – the senior US officer in Afghanistan and the commander of the 40-nation Nato-led mission – requested that an American general travel from US Central Command in Florida to Afghanistan to review the US investigation.

That announcement came a day after a statement attributed to General McKiernan on Azizabad that said: “We realise there is a large discrepancy between the number of civilians casualties reported” and that he would continue to “try to account for this disparity”.

The New York Times reported on its website Sunday that one of its reporters had seen mobile phone video in Azizabad of at least 11 dead children among some 30 to 40 bodies laid out in the village mosque. The Times also said Azizabad had 42 freshly dug graves, including 13 so small they could hold only children.

Afghan president Hamid Karzai has warned the US and Nato for years that they must stop killing civilians on bombing runs, saying the deaths undermine his government and the international mission. But the Azizabad incident could finally push Mr Karzai to take real action.

Shortly after the incident he ordered a review of whether the US and Nato should be allowed to use air strikes or carry out raids in villages. He also called for an updated “status of force” agreement between the Afghan government and foreign militaries. That review has not yet been completed.

Nek Mohammad Ishaq, a provincial council member in Herat and a member of the Afghan investigating commission, has said that Afghanistan’s intelligence service has photographs and videos of the victims.

Ahmad Nader Nadery, spokesman for Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission, has said that a villager named Reza, whose compound bore the brunt of the attack, had a private security company that worked for the US military at nearby Shindand airport.

Villagers and officials have said the operation was based on faulty information provided by a rival of Reza. Aziz Ahmad Nadem, a member of parliament from Herat, said the rival was now being protected by the US military.

Afghan officials say US special forces and Afghan commandos raided the village while hundreds of people were gathered in a large compound for a memorial service honouring a tribal leader, Timor Shah, who was killed eight months ago by a rival, Nader Tawakal. Reza, who was killed in the August 22 operation, was Mr Shah’s brother.

The US investigative report released last Tuesday said American and Afghan forces took fire from militants while approaching Azizabad that “justified use of well-aimed small-arms fire and close air support to defend the combined force”.

The US report said that investigators discovered evidence that the militants planned to attack a nearby coalition base. Evidence collected included weapons, explosives, intelligence materials and an access badge to the base, as well as photographs from inside and outside the base, the report said.

It said that the investigating officer watched video of the engagement and looked at topographic photo comparisons of the area before and after, including burial sites.