Pentagon

Updated June 03, 2009

U.S. Military Errors in Airstrike Could Have Led to Afghan Civilian Deaths, Official Says

AP

The early May attack was an incident that has strained relations between Washington and Kabul and caused resentment among the Afghan people. 

WASHINGTON -- A defense official says the U.S. military's failure to follow tightened rules for aerial strikes likely caused some of the deaths in a U.S. bombing in Afghanistan that killed dozens of civilians. 

This was the chief finding of an internal Pentagon investigation into a May 4 incident in western Afghanistan. It was related by a defense official on grounds of anonymity because of sensitivity of the situation. 

The official noted that errors were made in the early May attack -- an incident that has strained relations between Washington and Kabul and caused resentment among the Afghan people. 

American military commanders on a number of occasions have rewritten the rules covering U.S. bombing missions in ways calculated to avoid civilian casualties, most recently late last year.

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