A U.S. military investigation has cleared the U.S. forces of wrongdoing in fighting that left 33 civilians dead and 27 others wounded last year in Afghanistan’s Kunduz province, saying that they acted in self-defense.
However, the investigation by the U.S. forces and Afghanistan determined that civilian casualties had taken place in an act of “self-defense”.
“To defend themselves and Afghan forces, the U.S. forces returned fire in self-defense at Taliban who were using civilian houses as firing positions,” according to the statement.
Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. Forces – Afghanistan, said: “Regardless of the circumstances, I deeply regret the loss of innocent lives.
“I wish to assure President [Ashraf] Ghani and the people of Afghanistan that we will take all possible measures to protect Afghan civilians. We will continue to assist the Afghan security forces in their efforts to defend their country,” Nicholson added.
he investigation concluded that the air assets “used the minimum amount of force required to neutralize the various threats from the civilian buildings and protect friendly forces.”
The killed and wounded Afghan civilians are believed to have been inside the buildings as they were hit by airstrikes, though the reports states that “no civilians were seen or identified in the course of the battle.” A Taliban ammunition cache exploded during the fighting, which may have also caused casualties, the report added.
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