KABUL — Video of the aftermath of a disputed incident involving American forces and the Taliban shows bloodied bodies of children laid out with other corpses, confirming international Red Cross findings at the two remote villages in western Afghanistan.
The U.S. military does not contest that civilians died but called "extremely over-exaggerated" a report by an Afghan official that as many as 147 were killed. Afghans blame aerial bombing Monday and Tuesday for the deaths and destruction. U.S. officials have suggested that Taliban fighters caused at least some of the deaths. They also said investigators on a joint U.S.-Afghan team were still analyzing data collected in the villages of Ganjabad and Gerani in Farah province.
In a video obtained Friday by Associated Press Television News, villagers are seen wrapping the mangled bodies of some of the victims in blankets and cloths, and lining them up on the dusty ground. In one shot, two children are lifted from a blanket with another adult already in it. The children's faces are blackened, and parts of their tunics are soaked in what appears to be dried blood.
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Their bodies are then put on the ground, wrapped in another cloth and placed next to the other bodies. It was not clear how many bodies were in the room where the video was shot.
The man who shot the video said many of the bodies he filmed Tuesday in Gerani were in pieces. He spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution from security agencies.
It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the video. The International Committee of the Red Cross also has said that women and children were among dozens of dead people its teams saw in the two villages.
On Thursday, a local official said he collected from residents the names of 147 people killed in the fighting. If true, it would be the deadliest case of civilian casualties in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion that ousted the Taliban regime.
Villagers "were pointing to graves and saying, 'This is my son; this is my daughter,' " said Abdul Basir Khan, a member of Farah's provincial council. He said he gave his tally to the investigators.
The U.S. military described that toll as over the top. "We are definitely nowhere near those estimates," said U.S. military spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias.
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