TAGAB VALLEY, Afghanistan — U.S. commanders on Tuesday traveled to a poor Afghan village and distributed $40,000 to relatives of 15 people killed in a U.S. raid, including a known militant commander. The Americans also apologized for any civilians killed in the operation.
The issue of civilian deaths is increasingly sensitive in Afghanistan, with President Hamid Karzai accusing the U.S. of killing civilians in three separate cases over the past month.
As U.S. commanders paid villagers near 15 newly dug graves, Karzai met Tuesday in the capital with relatives of some of those killed. He told the villagers he has given the U.S. and NATO one month to respond to a draft agreement calling for increased Afghan participation in military operations.
Col. Greg Julian, the top U.S. spokesman in Afghanistan, led Tuesday’s delegation into the village of Inzeri. A raid the night of Jan. 19 killed 15 people in Inzeri, including a targeted militant commander named Mullah Patang.
Afghan officials admit that Patang was killed, but villagers say civilians also died and have pressed their complaints with U.S. officials and Karzai.
The U.S. regularly makes payments to Afghan relatives of those killed in operations, but the payments are rarely publicized.
Julian told villagers that U.S. forces did not come Jan. 19 intending to fight, but opened fire after villagers fired on them.
Many Afghan families are armed.
“Perhaps there may have been some people accidentally killed,” Julian said as he looked at a mud-brick home where villagers said some Afghans died. “If there was collateral damage, I’m very sorry about that.”
U.S. officials paid $40,000 in Afghan money to representatives of the 15 killed — $2,500 for each death plus $500 for two wounded men and $1,500 for village repairs.
Lt. Col. Steven Weir, a military lawyer who helped oversee the payments, said the payments were not an admission by the U.S. that innocents were killed.
“It’s a condolence payment,” he said. “The villagers said none of them were in the Taliban, just peaceful individuals. . . . So by this payment they will understand it’s not our goal to kill innocent people. This may help them understand we’re here to build a safer and more secure Afghanistan.”
