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US to reopen Afghan attack case US to re-open Afghan attack case
(about 3 hours later)
US forces in Afghanistan are re-opening an investigation into a US air attack last month which reportedly killed many civilians. US forces in Afghanistan are to re-open an inquiry into an air raid last month after new video evidence emerged indicating scores of civilian deaths.
The US military says there is new information about the raid on the Taleban in western Herat province. The US had earlier said no more than seven civilians died in the attack n the western province of Herat.
The US had previously disputed claims by local people that as many as 90 civilians were killed in the attack. However, the Afghan government and the UN said up to 90 people were killed, many of them women and children.
It comes as Human Rights Watch warned such attacks were undermining Afghan support for Nato and US troops. The US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) says such attacks are eroding support for the government and foreign forces.
The New York-based rights group said civilian deaths from international air strikes nearly tripled between 2006 and 2007. HRW says civilians deaths from international air strikes nearly tripled between 2006 and 2007.
The reliance on few ground forces and overwhelming air power was leading to "mistakes" that had "dramatically decreased" support for the Afghan government and international troops, the group said. Disturbing footage
"Civilian deaths from air strikes act as a recruiting tool for the Taleban and risk fatally undermining the international effort to provide basic security to the people of Afghanistan," Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), said in a statement. The US general in charge of Nato-led troops (Isaf) in Afghanistan said on Sunday that he was requesting the US military's Central Command to review the investigation into last month's air raid.
Fresh graves The review had been ordered "in the light of emerging evidence pertaining to civilian casualties", a statement by Gen David McKiernan said.
The report comes two weeks after US-led air and ground strikes on Azizabad village in Shindand, Herat. On Saturday, Gen McKiernan said that Isaf realised there was "a large discrepancy between the number of civilian casualties reported by US and Afghan National Army soldiers, and local people".
The US said seven civilians had been killed in what was a successful operation to target a Taleban commander.
The US and Nato need to dramatically improve their co-ordination with each other and with the government of Afghanistan Rachel ReidHuman Rights WatchThe US and Nato need to dramatically improve their co-ordination with each other and with the government of Afghanistan Rachel ReidHuman Rights Watch
But video footage from mobile phones allegedly showing dozens of dead bodies has given increasing credibility to claims by local residents that up to 90 civilians were killed in the attack. Disturbing video footage - apparently of the aftermath of the raid - has been seen by top military figures and diplomats in Kabul.
The footage allegedly shows bodies - many of them women and children - lined up in a mosque in the village. The shaky footage - possibly shot with a mobile phone - shows some 40 dead bodies lined up under sheets and blankets inside a mosque.
Both the Afghan government and the United Nations have already carried out their own investigations into the attack. The majority of the dead are children - babies and toddlers, some burned so badly they are barely recognisable.
They say the video evidence, and the presence of a large number of fresh graves in the village, confirm the accounts of local people. The covers are removed for the camera one by one: a little girl of perhaps four with brown curly hair; a boy with his eyes still eerily open; another girl with huge injuries on the side of her head.
On Sunday, the senior US commander in Afghanistan, David McKiernan, said that in light of new evidence, he had asked for the American investigation to be reopened. Another boy has his hand up as if to protect his face which was crushed under the rubble.
Damaged reputation Clearly heard on the tape is the crying of relatives and the survivors of the bombing raid.
Human Rights Watch found that in 2008 at least 321 Afghan civilians had been killed in international air strikes - a rise from at least 230 in 2006. US forces had originally said seven civilians were killed in a "successful" US raid targeting a Taleban commander in Azizabad village in Herat's Shindand district.
This figure was much lower than the number of civilians killed in militant attacks, the group pointed out. Nearly 950 people were killed by insurgents in 2008, compared with 700 in 2006. However, the UN, the Afghan government and an Afghan human rights group said the number of civilian deaths was far higher.
Their estimates of the number of civilians killed varied between 76 and 90, with the UN eventually concluding that children accounted for 60 of the dead.
The dispute over the figures had escalated into a fierce behind-the-scenes battle behind the UN and the Pentagon.
Warning over deaths
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Monday that decreased reliance on ground forces and greater use of air power was leading to "mistakes" that had "dramatically decreased" support for the Afghan government and international troops.
"Civilian deaths from air strikes act as a recruiting tool for the Taleban and risk fatally undermining the international effort to provide basic security to the people of Afghanistan," Brad Adams, Asia director of HRW, said in a statement.
The group found that in 2007 at least 321 Afghan civilians had been killed in international air strikes - a rise from at least 116 in 2006.
This figure was much lower than the number of civilians killed in militant attacks, the group said. Nearly 950 people were killed by insurgents in 2008, compared with 700 in 2006.
HRW said most of the air strike casualties occurred in unplanned raids, when air power was called to give support to troops on the ground.HRW said most of the air strike casualties occurred in unplanned raids, when air power was called to give support to troops on the ground.
"The US and Nato need to dramatically improve their co-ordination with each other and with the government of Afghanistan," HRW's Rachel Reid told the BBC."The US and Nato need to dramatically improve their co-ordination with each other and with the government of Afghanistan," HRW's Rachel Reid told the BBC.
"We're calling on the military to use precision-guided, low collateral damage munitions whenever possible... especially in densely-populated areas." Afghan President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly warned the US and Nato that civilian deaths undermine his government and damage the reputation of foreign forces in the country.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly warned the US and Nato that civilian deaths undermine his government and damages the reputation of foreign forces in the country.