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Un accused coverup { July 29 2002 } http:www.timesonline.co.ukprintFriendly,,1-2984-368506,00.html July 29, 2002 US accused of airstrike cover-up From Dumeetha Luthra in Kabul AMERICAN forces may have breached human rights and then removed evidence after the so-called wedding party airstrike that killed more than 50 Afghan civilians this month, according to a draft United Nations report seen by The Times. A preliminary UN investigation has found no corroboration of American claims that its aircraft were fired on from the ground, and says there were discrepancies in US accounts of what happened. If the findings are upheld by a second, more detailed, UN investigation, they will cause huge embarrassment to the Pentagon. UN sources said that the findings pointed to an American cover-up, and suggested that American investigators were dragging their feet hoping that the issue would pass. The attack took place early on July 1 as American forces hunted pockets of Taleban and al-Qaeda resistance. A US helicopter gunship opened fire on targets around the village of Kakarak, and the casualties included 25 members of one family at a wedding party. A UN source said that the report was produced by a team of “experienced and reputable UN people, who have been in the region a while and know it well”. It states that there was clear evidence that human rights violations had taken place and that coalition forces had arrived on the scene very quickly after the airstrikes and “cleaned the area”, removing evidence of “shrapnel, bullets and traces of blood”. Women on the scene had their hands tied behind their backs. Investigators had found no weapons, “no corroboration” on the ground that the US had been fired on, and that there were discrepancies between the various American accounts of what happened. In a prepared statement last night a UN spokesman in Afghanistan said that the report contained judgments that were not sufficiently substantiated, and that a comprehensive report was being finalised that would provide a more detailed and accurate picture. However, the statement added that “the findings on the ground bear out the paramount necessity that such incidents do not recur, both from a humanitarian and political perspective”. It called for “an in-depth investigation (to) be carried out to ensure that such tragedies are not repeated; and that the protection of civilian lives becomes a primary concern in the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan”. The wedding party raid was not the first US airstrike to kill Afghan civilians and it both angered President Karzai and has fuelled anti-American sentiment in the country. A joint US-Afghan team is investigating the strike, but nothing has been disclosed and no timescale has been given on when the findings will be made public. One UN official put it: “The more it drags on, the harder it is to prove and probably the people investigating want it to go slowly and die away.” Pentagon officials have said that cameras fixed to the AC130’s gun turrets showed gunfire coming from the ground, but the Pentagon has not released the film, as it has on previous occasions, preventing independent analysis of whether it was anti-aircraft artillery or celebratory rifle fire. The Pentagon declined to comment on the UN report, but said all matters arising from the incident were under consideration by US Central Command and that charges against the servicemen involved had not been ruled out. But the Pentagon insisted it was too early for the US to draw any conclusions because its investigative team had yet to start compiling its report.

28 troops implicated manslaughter in afghanistan 8 afghans killed 12 10 03 [jpg] Afganistan airstrike kills 76 { April 2006 } Afghan hospital strike kills 15 { October 31 2001 } Afghan soliders killed accidently { May 21 2003 } Aghanistan bomb kills 11 civilians { April 10 2003 } Airstrike coverup { July 29 2002 } Airstrike in afghanistan killed civilians and infant { August 11 2005 } Airstrike kills 17 afghan civilians { July 5 2005 } Bloody blunder { January 7 2002 } Bombed wedding { May 18 2002 } Bombed wedding2 { July 2 2002 } Bombed wedding3 { July 2 2002 } Bombing that went wrong { July 2 2002 } Carpetbomb { November 19 2001 } Cluster111 [jpg] Disappeared { August 8 2002 } Evidence massacre { August 19 2002 } Flawed air strikes { July 21 2002 } Food drops similar to cluster bombs Fooddrop roof Hiding dead { August 8 2002 } Inquiry airstrikes { July 9 2002 } Nine afghan kids dead after air strike No investigation { August 21 2002 } Pentagon defends { July 16 2002 } Proves civilians hit { October 14 2001 } Reasons why bombs hit civilians Scores killed afghan wedding Troops mistakenly kill 4 afghans { May 21 2003 } Un accused coverup { July 29 2002 } Unexploded bombs litter village US airstrike kills seven afghan children { June 18 2007 } Us bombing kills 11 afghan civilians Us bombs killed 1500 Warplane kills 11 aghan civilians { July 1 2002 } Wedding party { July 1 2002 } Woman children { May 25 2002 } Files Listed: 38

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