A draft UN report has found that the US might have covered up evidence relating to the bombing of an Afghan wedding party earlier this month that killed about 50 people, the Times reported on Monday.
The London-based newspaper said the preliminary report found no corroboration of US claims that its aircraft had launched a retaliatory attack after being fired upon. It had also found other discrepancies in US accounts of what happened.
The Afghan government says 48 people were killed and 117 wounded when US aircraft fired on a wedding party in Des Rawud, in central Uruzgan province on July 1.
Local residents say revellers were attacked when they staring firing into the air to celebrate the nuptials -- a traditional occurrence at many Afghan weddings.
The Times quoted the report as saying that coalition forces had arrived on the scene very quickly after the airstrikes and "cleaned the area," removing evidence of shrapnel, bullets and traces of blood.
US forces had also committed human-rights violations by tying up the hands of women at the scene, the paper said.
In a statement provided to the Times, a UN spokesman said that the report contained judgments that were not sufficiently substantiated and that a comprehensive report was being finalized and that would provide a more detailed and accurate pattern.
The statement added that "the findings on the ground bear out the paramount necessity that such incidents do not recur, both from a humanitarian and political perspective."
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