An Afghan provincial official and villagers has accused US special forces on Friday of killing five civilians in a raid on a home near Gardez in Paktia province.
Blood is seen near the footwear and a hairband inside a room where five members of an Afghan family were killed near Gardez, in Paktia province, south east Afghanistan, Friday, Feb. 12, 2010. (Photo: AP)
Gardez provincial council member Shahyesta Jan Ahadi said: "On Thursday night, the Americans conducted an operation in a house and killed five innocent people, including three women. The people are so angry."
A man who identified himself as Hamidullah said that he had been in the home as some 20 people gathered to celebrate the birth of a son when a group of men he described as "US special forces" surrounded the compound.
Saying he witnessed one man's death, Hamidullah said: "Daoud was coming out of the house to ask what was going on and then they shot him."
They then killed a second man, according to Hamidullah, who went on to say that the rest of the group were forced out into the yard, made to kneel and had their hands bound behind their back.
He broke off in tears, without giving any further details.
Police chief General Azizudin Wardak confirmed that the five - two men and three women - were killed on Thursday night during a party, but he said that he did not know the full details.
"Who killed them? We still don't know," he said.
He added that an investigation was under way.
In a statement, Nato said that its forces had killed "several insurgents" in Gardez district after the Western military alliance received reports of militant activity at a compound near the village of Khatabeh.