Pentagon Acknowledges Killing of Afghan Civilians

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, July 09, 2002

Pentagon Acknowledges Killing of Afghan Civilians

The Pentagon on Monday acknowledged that Afghan civilians were killed or injured by a US air raid on July 1 but insisted that the exact number of casualties remains unclear.

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The Pentagon on Monday acknowledged that Afghan civilians were killed or injured by a US air raid on July 1 but insisted that the exact number of casualties remains unclear.

"What we're focused on is finding out what happened and what went wrong that led to the deaths and injuries of civilians," Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said at a news briefing.

"The issue of the number of civilian casualties and civilians killed is much less clear," Clarke said. "We know they occurred and we regret every one of them but we do not have any hard and fast numbers," she added.

The spokeswoman noted that Washington has no plans to pay compensation to victims of the tragedy.

This is the first time for the Pentagon to officially acknowledge the casualties of Afghan civilians since the incident took place a week ago.

Afghan officials said that over 40 civilians were killed and more than 100 others injured when U.S. aircraft attacked a weddingparty in Afghanistan's Uruzgan province on July 1. But the claims have been disputed by the US military.

The interim Afghan government has urged Washington to take appropriate measures to avoid similar tragedies from happening in the future.

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