ISAF denies probe finding Afghan strike breached NATO rules
The international military in Afghanistan denied reports that an investigation into an air strike that killed scores in the north of the country had found it was ordered in breach of NATO rules.
The international military in Afghanistan denied reports on Sunday that an investigation into an air strike that killed scores in the north of the country had found it was ordered in breach of NATO rules.
ISAF spokesman General Eric Tremblay said NATO investigators were "on the ground" in northern Kunduz province
where the bombing took place on Friday, but had not yet reported any findings.
Nor had ISAF come up with a definitive death toll, he said. Local officials told AFP on Sunday that a total of 56
people died in the area near the Tajik border early Friday morning -- 54 in the air strike and two, a father and son, who
were killed earlier by insurgents.
Tremblay said NATO investigators were in Kunduz to "talk to the patients, talk to the villagers, to local authorities, get some information," before reporting their findings.
The Washington Post newspaper earlier said the German commander who ordered the air strike had possibly been in
breach of NATO rules as he based the call on just one intelligence source.
The newspaper said a NATO fact-finding team estimated that about 125 people were killed in the bombing near the city of Kunduz, at least two dozen of whom -- but perhaps many more -- were not insurgents.