Kabul - The top US commander in Afghanistan has requested a new probe into allegations that a large number of civilians were killed in a US air raid in western Afghanistan on August 22. Afghan government and UN teams said that 90 civilians, including 60 children, were killed in the air raid in Azizabad village in Shindand district of Herat province.
The US military claimed its findings showed that from five to seven civilians and 30-35 militants including a rebel commander were killed during the airstrike, which was conducted after the combined forces were attacked by insurgents in the area.
General David McKiernan, the senior US commander in Afghanistan, who commands some 53,000 troops under the NATO flag in the country, said there was "emerging evidence pertaining to civilian casualties" in the incident.
"I feel it is prudent to request that US Central Command send a general officer to review the US investigation and its findings with respect to this new evidence," McKiernan said in a statement issued in Kabul on late Sunday.
"The people of Afghanistan have our commitment to get to the truth," the commander said.
The contradictory findings of the inquiries prompted Afghan President Hamid Karzai to acknowledge that recent civilian deaths have strained his relations with foreign forces stationed in the country.
Karzai made the comment in his visit to Azizabad village on Thursday, where he vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Following the incident, the president also fired two Afghan army commanders in the western region and his cabinet ordered a review of foreign forces in the country.
If the civilian deaths in Azizabad village are confirmed, it would be the deadliest incident for civilians since the ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001.
More than 3,800 people - mostly insurgents, but including some 1,000 civilians - have been killed in violence so far this year, according to Afghan human rights groups and military officials.
