Pentagon Delays Afghan Air Raid Report
Press TV
The release of a Pentagon report into deadly US air strikes in Afghanistan has been delayed amid an internal debate about what details should be revealed.
US air strikes blamed for the death of around 140 civilians in Farah province on May 4, 2009.
The probe, ordered by the head of the US Central Command General David Petraeus, examined bombing raids on May 4 in the western Farah province in which the Kabul government says 140 civilians were killed.
However, despite Defense Department officials promise to release an unclassified summary of the probe, the report has been postponed, because as the military tries to improve its public relations efforts in Afghanistan, such a report can taint its image.
On Thursday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a news conference that he supported the release of the report, which he expected to come in a "day or two."
But the Representatives from all of the armed services and the State Department have been involved in discussions about what should be released publicly, said a spokesman for the US Central Command.
US officials are concerned about the effect of civilian casualties in the war, amid growing public anger in Afghanistan and tensions with the Kabul government over the issue.
The air raid probe, carried out by Brigadier General Raymond Thomas, reviewed videos from aircraft called in to the fight as well as audio recordings of conversations between ground commanders and air crews.
While Kabul officials put the civilian toll of the incident at 140, an earlier probe by the US military in Afghanistan found that 20-30 civilians had been killed along with 60-65 insurgents.
Afghanistan's top human rights body has said that 97 civilians, most of them children, were believed to have died.
The air strikes involved F-18 fighter jets and a B-1 bomber, which at some point lost contact with an intended target as it circled back to drop a 2,000-pound bomb, according to Pentagon officials.
SG/SME