WORLD> Asia-Pacific
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WORLD> Asia-Pacific
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US-Taliban clash kills 95 kids: Afghan official
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-13 21:44 The list of the dead has not yet been made public, but the fact that payments are already being made suggests officials consider the investigation complete. Julian said those payments offered incentive for villagers to report high numbers. "It's very difficult to determine an exact number and there's a climate that encourages exaggeration," Julian said. He said the investigation team was taken to three different grave sites, one with four graves, one with 22 graves and one mass grave which contained an unknown number of bodies. "The locals couldn't decide among themselves whether it was 19 or 69 in that mass grave," Julian said. "I can sit down and give you a list of names too, given some time, but the physical evidence doesn't compare," he added. Karzai has long pleaded with the US to minimize civilian deaths during its operations. Past incidents have drawn immediate outcries from the government, which contends that such killings undermine support for the fight against the Taliban. The disputed incident comes as the Obama administration is gearing up to roll out a new strategy for the region, which involves linking success in Afghanistan with security in neighboring Pakistan, where Taliban militants are active along the border.
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