U.S. to review Afghan attack that caused civilian deaths

KABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S. military said Sunday it has new information about an American attack that Afghanistan says killed 90 civilians and it is sending a senior military officer to the country to review its initial investigation that concluded no more than seven civilians died.

The military did not say what information had emerged. But Afghan and Western officials say Afghanistan’s intelligence agency and the U.N. both have video of the aftermath of the airstrikes on Azizabad village showing dozens of dead women and children.

An Afghan government commission has said 90 civilians, including 60 children and 15 women, died in the Aug. 22 bombings, a finding that the U.N. backed in its own initial report.

But a U.S. investigation released last week said only up to seven civilians and 35 militants were killed in the operation in the western province of Herat.

A U.N. official who has seen one video of Azizabad said it shows maimed children. The official became highly emotional describing rows of bodies.

A second Western official has said one video shows bodies of “tens of children” lined up and he called the video “gruesome.” The two officials spoke on condition they not be identified because the videos had not been publicly released.

Although the U.S. said Tuesday its investigation of the attack was complete, the military at that time appeared to leave open the possibility that photographs or video from the scene could emerge. American officials said privately last week that they were aware photographic evidence apparently existed, but that they did not have access to it.

“No other evidence that may have been collected by other organizations was provided to the U.S. investigating officer and therefore could not be considered in the findings,” the initial U.S. report said.

The New York Times reported on its Web site Sunday that one of its reporters had seen cell phone video in Azizabad of at least 11 dead children among the 30 to 40 bodies laid out in the village mosque.

The Times also said Azizabad had 42 freshly dug graves, including 13 so small they could hold only children.