Videos Show Afghan Children Casualties

(CBS/AP)  The bodies of at least 10 children and many more adults covered in blankets and white shrouds appear in videos obtained by The Associated Press on Monday, lending weight to Afghan and U.N. allegations that a U.S.-led raid last month killed more civilians than the U.S. reported.

The sounds of wailing women mixed with the voices of men shouting inside a white-walled mosque in the western village of Azizabad, where an Afghan government commission and U.N. report said some 90 civilians — including 60 children and 15 women — were killed.

The two grainy videos, apparently taken by cell phones, showed bodies lying side-by-side on the mosque floor, covered by floral-patterned blankets and black-and-white checkered shawls. One young boy lay curled in a fetal position; others looked as though they were asleep. One child had half its head blown off.

Turbaned men walked around, gently lifting the blankets covering the faces of the dead. At least two elderly men were among the dead. There appeared to be several dozen bodies lying on the mosque floor, though a precise count was difficult because of the poor quality of the images.

The videos do not provide proof that 60 children died in the operation, but the images do appear to contradict a U.S. military investigation that found only seven civilians were killed in Azizabad, along with up to 35 militants.

The New York Times reported on its Web site Sunday that Azizabad had 42 freshly dug graves, including 13 so small they could hold only children.

The U.S. said Sunday it would reopen the investigation because of emerging new evidence. On Monday, a Pentagon spokesman said new "imagery evidence" came to the attention over the weekend of Gen. David D. McKiernan, the American commander of the NATO-led force here.

"There is some evidence that suggests that the evidence that the U.S. military used in ... its investigation may not have been complete," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.

He said a general to be sent to Afghanistan by U.S. Central Command will review the initial investigation. But it is also possible there will be a new inquiry into the raid in Azizabad — this time conducted by Central Command, said Lt. Cmdr. Bill Speaks, a spokesman for the command in Tampa, Fla.

The Afghan government has agreed to a joint U.S.-U.N.-Afghan investigation, said Sultan Ahmad Baheen, spokesman for Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry. It's not clear when or how that will be conducted.

In the videos, several dozen bodies covered by blankets were lined up in two rows, some with their feet protruding. Veiled Afghan women were seen shrieking in grief, alongside a young boy who squatted and rocked back and forth, sobbing beside one of the bodies.

One video showed three young children wrapped in white shrouds. A fourth child had gruesome head wounds, while a fifth appeared to be a girl lying on her back, her head resting on a red blanket.

It was impossible to verify conclusively that the videos showed the aftermath of the Azizabad attack, but the contents appeared to back claims by Afghan and U.N. officials that the U.S. operation killed far more civilians than the military has acknowledged.

U.S. special forces and Afghan commandos carried out the operation.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly warned the U.S. and NATO that it must stop killing civilians in its bombing runs, saying such deaths undermine his government and the international mission. But the Azizabad incident could finally push Karzai to take action.

Karzai says the Azizabad bombings have brought relations between the Afghan government and the U.S. to one of its lowest points since the ouster of the Islamic militia from power in 2001.

Shortly after the Azizabad attack, he ordered a review of whether the U.S. and NATO should be allowed to use airstrikes 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.

Afghan officials say U.S. special forces and Afghan commandos raided the village while hundreds of people were gathered in a large compound for a memorial service honoring a tribal leader, Timor Shah, who was killed eight months ago by a rival, Nader Tawakal.

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

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

[libluv2whine]

the only way to solve this problem once and for all is to dilute this poison we call ''ISLAM''

[libsluv2spit]

Why the heck are we even in Afghanistan?

Posted by OneWorldUSA at 04:57 AM : Sep 09, 2008
+ report abuse

********

to be pro-active instead of reactive to an islamic threat...a threat that comes from a few elite mullahs and clerics and nutjobs who poisons the minds of the masses to HATE YOU..enough to strap bombs on themselves and use it on civilian targets without any thought..

given the change, no matter how deep you orally copulate these terrroists, they would not hesitate to kill you..THAT IS WHAT THEY ARE TRAINED TO THINK..

now do you know WHY you oppose that??

[libsluv2spit]

George Bush says he wants a dang BODY COUNT! He could care less who dies, he just wants a Body Count saying more of them are dying. He wants proof our soldiers are fighting.

Posted by txpatriot4us at 05:28 PM : Sep 09, 2008
+ report abuse

***********

how come in really doubtful that you care about anybody from across the globle let alone to care about our military citizenry..

for you guys they are nothing more than just babykillers and a target to spit at..

[libsluv2spit]

are we so sure that the it did not pass associated press'' ''photoshop'' department?

I am sure that we can scoop up a lot more ''pictures'' and ''videos'' of other atrocities that really brought us this problem..

how many decades had the taliban been ruling afghanistan with draconian islamic rules??? where scores of women children and men were not just killed but tortured because of a simple word they said or whom they saw a few hours ago or how short thier skirt was..or whom they were seen walking with..JUST A REMINDER

THE LIBERAL MEDIA IS WORKING FEVERSHLY to remove thse ''pictures'' and ''videos''..ever wonder why?? because they care??? maybe it$ $omething el$se..

[txpatriot4us]

George Bush says he wants a dang BODY COUNT! He could care less who dies, he just wants a Body Count saying more of them are dying. He wants proof our soldiers are fighting.

[petro49l]

Bin Laden prefers that the Coalition kills women and children. The land is for growing exotic poppies. He needs plants to fill his isomizers that create tar heroin. The narcotic brings in substantial amounts of money for Al Qada. Osama deals drugs to finance terror throughout the world. Illicit sales of heroin buys the latest weapons and communications.

[babooph]

Just a little something that "slipped by" our embedded "journalists".

[tootall10142]

AS LONG AS THE LOCALS ARE HARBOURING TERRORIST THEN THE PARENTS OF THESE CHILDREN AND THE MEN OF THE VILLAGE WITH NO GUTS ALLOW IT TO CONTINUE THEN WE SHOULD SLAUGHTER THEM BY THEM ACRE. SOONER OR LATER THEY WILL GET THW IDEA. THE V.C TRIED THE SAME THING WE KILLED THE NON COMBATANTS IN ASIA ALSO.SYMPATHY CAN BE FOUND IN THE DICTIONARY BETWEEN S-HIT AND SYPHILISS.

[intheshade-2009]

Brings back memories of Mai Lai, the US army said it never happened. Sgt. Callie must be back in the army again.

[metsobitso]

The US Army is very good at killing unarmed women and children. Their US special forces commandos didn''t do very well aganst another army in Georgia.