30 civilians killed in Afghan airstrike: probe

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A military investigation has found that more than 30 civilians were killed in an August 22 air strike in western Afghanistan â€" not five to seven as the US military had long insisted, the New York Times reported Wednesday.

A Pentagon spokesman would neither confirm nor deny the report, saying that the investigation by Brigadier General Michael Callan was not yet finished.

The incident has angered the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai which has charged that 90 civilians were killed in the raid on the village of Azizabad, far more than acknowledged by the US military.

An initial military investigation concluded that 30 militants and five to seven civilians were killed in the raid and a subsequent air strike by an AC-130 gunship.