Innocents among raid victims, officials say

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — U.S. military officials now believe innocents were among the estimated 15 people killed and 27 captured in a nighttime raid on two remote compounds in Afghanistan last week.

Also, after two days of deadly battles in Afghanistan, a warlord backed by Afghan Prime Minister Hamid Karzai retreated Friday from his fight for control of a southeastern provincial capital, a setback for Karzai’s efforts to put the nation under government control.

A formal Central Command investigation of the Jan. 23 raid has not been completed, but two senior officials said Friday it appears likely that a mix of Taliban and anti-Taliban fighters were present at the site. U.S. intelligence officers had believed it was a hide-out for members of the al-Qaida terrorist network.

Gen. Tommy Franks, commander in chief of Central Command, ordered an investigation earlier this week in response to assertions from Afghan government officials that anti-Taliban people were among those killed or captured.

Senior U.S. military officials said Friday that while it does not look like all of those killed and captured were friendly to the new government, some probably were.

One official said it seemed likely that the killed and captured were a mixture of Afghans loyal to Karzai, "criminals" not necessarily associated with the Taliban or al-Qaida, and some Taliban figures.

U.S. officials have said that if innocents are among the 27 captives, they will be released. All are being held for questioning at a U.S.-operated detention facility at Kandahar airport.

Elsewhere, local fighters and residents said they expect more battles once Karzai-backed warlord Bacha Khan regroups his men in the rugged mountains surrounding Gardez, capital of Paktia province.

It is widely believed in the city that Khan was responsible for calling in U.S. airstrikes there Dec. 21 in which 27 people died. The U.S. military has never released results of an investigation of the incident after claims that innocent civilians were targeted.

After the Friday retreat, residents of Gardez said they were dismayed that while the city was rocked by fighting that killed at least 61 people, U.S. aircraft hovered overhead but did not intervene. Nor did special forces troops, conducting hush-hush operations from an old fort nearby.

The battle was the biggest outbreak of fighting in Afghanistan since the Taliban were driven from power.