United Press International03/17/2010By [Printer Friendly Version]
GARDEZ - Special Forces soldiers allegedly working with U.S. troops killed Afghan civilians, including pregnant women, in a failed nighttime raid, a U.N. report said.
The Times of London said it reviewed an unpublished U.N. report detailing a Feb. 12 raid in Paktia province where several members of an Afghan family were killed.
The U.N. report added that covert operatives inflicted "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment" on the survivors of the raid, The Times added.
NATO spokesman U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Greg Smith said the women were dead when U.S. and Afghan forces raided the home Feb. 12.
Family members of the victims said NATO was trying to cover up the incident following a report by The Times that claimed two men killed during the raid weren't the intended targets.
The U.N. report said U.S. and Afghan soldiers restrained surviving relatives and forced them to stand barefoot in the cold "for several hours."
"Further allegations were also raised that U.S. and Afghan forces refused to provide adequate and timely medical support to two people who sustained bullet injuries, resulting in their deaths hours later," the U.N. report added.
