US accused of airstrike cover-up

AMERICAN forces may have breached human rights and then removed evidence after the so-called wedding party airstrike that killed more than 50 Afghan civilians this month, according to a draft United Nations report seen by The Times.
A preliminary UN investigation has found no corroboration of American claims that its aircraft were fired on from the ground, and says there were discrepancies in US accounts of what happened.

If the findings are upheld by a second, more detailed, UN investigation, they will cause huge embarrassment to the Pentagon.

UN sources said that the findings pointed to an American cover-up, and suggested that American investigators were dragging their feet hoping that the issue would pass.

The attack took place early on July 1 as American forces hunted pockets of Taleban and al-Qaeda resistance. A US helicopter gunship opened fire on targets around the village of Kakarak, and the casualties included 25 members of one family at a wedding party.

A UN source said that the report was produced by a team of “experienced and reputable UN people, who have been in the region a while and know it well”. It states that there was clear evidence that human rights violations had taken place and that coalition forces had arrived on the scene very quickly after the airstrikes and “cleaned the area”, removing evidence of “shrapnel, bullets and traces of blood”. Women on the scene had their hands tied behind their backs.