'Afghanistan’s Dirty War'

Monday, 15 June 2009 13:27

Dispatches tonight will screen a documentary on a US attack on Azizabad in Afghanistan last August which killed 91 civilians, deaths which are still disputed by the US Central Command in Afghanistan.

The attack, now known to have been precipitated by a false tip-off as a result of a blood feud between rival villages, saw US forces act on false information and launch an air and ground assault against the village of Azizabad.

After the attack, the U.S. military declared 30 militants were killed and no civilians. It later acknowledged five civilian deaths and later still, a Central Command investigation into the incident raised the civilian toll to 33.

Investigations carried out by the Afghan government and the United Nations however, found that some 90 innocent civilians were killed in the attack. Afghan President Hamid Karzai's office said no Taliban were among the dead and that the attack was based on "total misinformation".

The documentary also claims US Special Forces have failed to co-operate with Afghan authorities in disarming and surrendering individuals from the rival village that have been implicated in the deaths of individuals from Azizabad village.

Coming after a US attack in Farah province last month which claimed 140 lives, the documentary's contents will do little to quell criticism of the US Forces in Afghanistan and the heightened strains these incidents have placed on relations between the Afghan government and the US forces in the country.

The Dispatches documentary, Afghanistan’s Dirty War, will be screened tonight (Mon 15 June) on Channel 4 at 8pm.

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