US 'erased Afghan attack footage'

BBC

The Associated Press is to complain to the US military after two journalists said US soldiers deleted footage of the aftermath of an attack in Afghanistan.

Eight civilians died and 35 people were hurt in the incident, which has been condemned by President Hamid Karzai.

The AP freelancers said troops erased photos and video showing a vehicle in which three people were shot dead.

A military spokesman said he did not have any confirmed reports that US forces had confiscated filmed material.

The Americans say a convoy of marines was attacked by a suicide bomber and came under co-ordinated small-arms fire.

They say their soldiers returned fire, and acknowledge that at least eight Afghan civilians were killed, with a further 35 injured.

Reports say that as they left the scene along a busy highway, the Americans fired indiscriminately on civilians and their vehicles.

Thousands of local people took to the streets on Sunday to protest against what happened. The Afghan authorities have launched an investigation into the circumstances of the militant attack.

President Karzai "strongly condemned the incident which took place due to a suicide attack on a coalition convoy and which prompted the coalition force firing on civilians that killed 10 people," a statement from his office said.

'You will face problems'

A freelance photographer working for The Associated Press and a cameraman working for AP Television News say they arrived at the site about half an hour after the suicide bombing.

Witnesses at the scene said three civilians in the four-wheel drive vehicle had been killed by US forces fleeing the attack, the journalists said.

"When I went near the four-wheel drive, I saw the Americans taking pictures of the same car, so I started taking pictures," photographer Rahmat Gul said.

"Two soldiers with a translator came and said, 'Why are you taking pictures? You don't have permission.'"

Mr Gul said troops took his camera, deleted his photos and returned it to him.

Khanwali Kamran, a reporter for the Afghan channel Ariana Television, said the American soldiers also deleted his footage, AP reported.

"They warned me that if it is aired ... then, 'You will face problems,'" Mr Kamran was quoted by the news agency as saying.

Reporters Without Borders condemned the alleged actions of the US forces, saying they dealt with the media poorly.

"Why did the soldiers do it if they don't have anything to hide?" said Jean-Francois Julliard, a spokesman for the Paris-based group.

US military spokesman Lt Col David Accetta said he did not have any confirmed reports that coalition forces "have been involved in confiscating cameras or deleting images".