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Washington: A US military review of an airstrike in western Afghanistan maintains that only five civilians were killed, Pentagon officials said on Thursday, a finding that starkly contradicts reports by the United Nations and Afghan officials that the civilian death toll from the bombing was at least 90.
The completed review corroborates an initial assessment by the military of the operation last Friday by US and Afghan forces in a village in Herat province. The review determined that 25 militants including a Taliban commander had been killed, along with five civilians, the officials said.
"We did not kill up to 90 civilians as has been alleged," one US military official said. The review "comports with our operational understanding" of the events, said the official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak on the record.
US military commanders in Afghanistan were expected to present their findings to Afghan government officials - possibly including President Hamid Karzai - at a meeting, the officials said. The US military planned to propose that the two sides conduct a joint investigation of the disputed incident, they said. The Associated Press first reported the results of the US review and stated that agreement had been reached on a joint US-Afghan investigation.
- Los Angeles Times-Washington PostNews Service
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