After receiving new evidence in recent days, the U.S. military is launching a higher level investigation of its air strike in Afghanistan two weeks ago, in which dozens of people were killed. The initial U.S. investigation said the strike had killed at least 30 militants and between five and seven civilians. That disputed reports by Afghan and U.N. investigators, who said more then 90 civilians had been killed, many of them children.
美国军方最近几天收到新的证据后，正对两个星期前对阿富汗的空袭事件进行更高层次的调查。那次空袭造成数十人死亡。美国初步的调查显示，空袭至少炸死30名激进分子，5至7名平民。但这个报告同阿富汗和联合国调查人员的报告不符。阿富汗和联合国的调查报告说，有90多名平民被炸死，其中许多是儿童。
The official statement from the coalition command in Afghanistan said the investigating officer based his conclusions on statements from 30 people, including air crews and U.S. and Afghan ground forces. The statement, issued a week ago, said troops had also collected weapons, explosives and various types of information at the scene in the village of Azizabad, had video and photographs of the attack site, and had looked at burial grounds and gotten reports from local clinics and hospitals.
在阿富汗的盟军司令部发表的正式声明说，调查人员得出的结论来自30人的证词，其中包括飞行员、美国和阿富汗的地面部队。这项一个星期前发布的声明说，军队还从阿齐扎巴德村的现场收缴了武器、爆炸物和各种信息，对攻击地点拍照和录像，查看了墓场并搜集了当地卫生所和医院的报告。
But the statement also says U.S. and Afghan authorities were kept out of the village the day after the attack, and the investigator was not given access to any information collected by "other organizations," an apparent reference to the U.N. and Afghan government investigations.
但是声明还说，美国和阿富汗当局在袭击发生后的一天没有能进入那个村庄，而且调查人员也无法获得“其它组织”搜集的任何信息。这里的其他组织显然指的是联合国和阿富汗政府的调查。
But Pentagon Spokesman Bryan Whitman says the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, has now been presented with additional evidence.
但是五角大楼的发言人惠特曼说，在阿富汗的美军和北约最高指挥官麦基尔南上将现在收到了补充的证据。
"There was some additional evidence, there was some imagery that came to his attention, that gave him reason to want to take a look at the investigation that we have done on this," said Bryan Whitman.
他说：“还有一些补充的证据，还有一些影像引起麦基尔南上将的注意，让他有理由想审查一下我们在这个事件上所做的调查。”
Whitman would not be specific, but reports from Kabul say U.N. officials showed General McKiernan a video shot with a mobile phone showing dozens of bodies in Azizabad, many of which appeared to be civilians rather than fighters.
惠特曼没有讲明详情，但是来自喀布尔的报告说，联合国官员向麦基尔南上将出示了用手机拍摄的一个录像画面。画面上显示阿齐扎巴德村子里的数十具尸体，其中很多看上去是平民，而不是战斗人员。
"While we attempt to do very thorough and comprehensive investigations, we also try to do them in an expeditious fashion, particularly in this case because it had a lot of interest, and there were some conflicting reports," he said. "And then the investigating officer made some determinations. But in light of, over the weekend, General McKiernan receiving some new evidence, some imagery evidence, he made the decision, based on this new evidence, that he wanted a review of the initial investigation."
他说：“虽然我们试图详尽、彻底进行调查，我们也在设法以尽快的方式来调查，尤其是这次袭击事件，因为这次事件涉及各种利益，还有一些相互矛盾的报道。后来调查人员做出一些决定。但是，由于周末麦基尔南上将收到了一些新证据，一些影像证据，他才决定要根据新的证据对初步的调查重新评估。”
The military says a combined U.S. and Afghan force entered Azizabad on August 22 and took heavy fire from militants in the village. The initial investigation found the troops were "justified" and acted within "existing rules of engagement" in returning fire and calling in the air strike that resulted in the dispute over casualties. The investigator concluded that a Taliban commander known as Mullah Sadiq was among those killed.
美国军方说，美军和阿富汗军队8月22日进入阿齐扎巴德村，并在那里遭到了激进分子的猛烈射击。初步的调查报告发现，联军的还击是有“理由”的，是根据“交火现有规定”采取的行动，召来空中力量进行攻击，从而引起了人们对伤亡人数的争执。调查人员的结论是，一名叫做萨迪克的塔利班指挥官也被炸死。
The U.S. military regularly takes longer than other organizations to investigate incidents involving allegations of civilian casualties, saying it is more concerned about its reports being accurate than fast. Whitman says General McKiernan wants to find out why in this case, after a 10-day investigation, the U.S. military may have gotten it wrong.
美军调查涉及平民伤亡的时间，通常要比其他组织的调查时间要长。美军说，他们更重视报告的准确性，而并非调查的速度。惠特曼说，麦基尔南上将希望找出原因，为什么在经过10天的调查后，美军还可能把事情搞错了。
"There is some evidence that suggests that the evidence that the United States military used in the conduct of its investigation may not have been complete," said Whitman. "But we will see."
U.S. Central Command, which has authority over all U.S. military activity in the Middle East and Central Asia, is expected to dispatch a general from its headquarters in Florida to handle the new investigation. Whitman says "nothing has resulted" from a U.S. offer to conduct a joint investigation with Afghan officials. |