KABUL, Afghanistan — Civilian casualties in Farah province earlier this week were more likely the work of Taliban killers who orchestrated a series of events leading up to U.S. bombings, rather than the bombs themselves, U.S. military authorities said Thursday.
Even while a joint Afghan-U.S. investigating team was entering the district of Bala Buluk — where some reports said up to 120 people were killed overnight Monday and early Tuesday — U.S. authorities challenged the idea that it was the close air support of four strafing runs and 13 bombs that killed the civilians.
Although U.S. officials say at least 25 insurgents were killed in the western Afghanistan province, the number of civilians who died remains unknown.
"The reports have varied wildly from the get-go. We’ve heard everything from one small boy killed or nine individuals injured to up to more than 160," said Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, a U.S. forces spokeswoman. "So many numbers are pure speculation."
But, she said, "We do believe many of those individuals were indeed [killed] by Taliban fighters. We had intelligence sources suggesting this a day ago. We’re trying to determine exactly what happened, and who did what."
Civilian deaths have caused outrage and concern in Afghanistan, complicating the NATO war effort. The report of what could be the worst such incident to date comes just as 21,000 more U.S. troops are deploying here in an effort to defeat the Taliban.
More than 2,000 Afghan civilians were killed last year by both coalition forces and the Taliban, the United Nations has said.
"It’s a very distinct event to highlight what [the troops] are up against," Mathias said. "The enemy claims to do these things on behalf of Islam but which are against every religion. They have no qualms about killing innocent women and children."
Col. Greg Julian, the top U.S. spokesman in Afghanistan, said that there were unconfirmed reports that villagers in the area said Taliban fighters herded women and children into houses, tossed in grenades, then blamed the coalition for the deaths.
Yet the carnage, military officials say, appears to have been orchestrated by the Taliban. According to the U.S. scenario, the Taliban performed a public beheading perhaps in order to draw in and ambush Afghan police.
The police, overpowered by an unknown number of Taliban, called for back-up from U.S. Marines, who in turn called for close air support, Mathias said.
"I believe from the information we’ve received so far, the entire event was planned to create this effect," Julian said. "We don’t rule out the possibility that civilians were also collateral damage from these bombs."
The New York Times reported that villagers reached by telephone said many were killed by aerial bombing. One villager told the Times planes began dropping bombs an hour after the fighting stopped, and six houses in one village had been destroyed.
The newspaper reported that "villagers, crazed with grief, were collecting mangled bodies in blankets and shawls and piling them on three tractors."
The event sparked a riot outside the Farah governor’s office, according to The Associated Press, in which local police fired on rock-throwing protesters, injuring one.
An investigation team, including an Afghan general and a U.S. general, were dispatched to the province but Julian said it was unclear whether any forensic evidence could be produced to indicate whether grenades or bombs or other weapons caused the deaths.
Last August, civilians in Azizabad were killed in a U.S. action; Afghan officials and the United Nations say 90 were killed. U.S. officials said it was 33. Whatever the actual number, the incident prompted top U.S. commanders to order a review of airstrikes and to work more closely with the Afghans in coordinating the missions.
"We’ve done all these things about informing commanders about proportionality and restraint and withdrawing to fight another day," Julian said. "Ultimately, we trust the judgment of our junior leaders on the ground, in contact, to make the best decisions they can."
