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."
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
TRIP TO TAIWAN: The resumption of group tours from China should be discussed between the two agencies tasked with handling cross-strait tourism, the MAC said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday reassured China-based businesspeople that he would follow former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) cross-strait policy to facilitate healthy and orderly exchanges with Beijing and build a resilient economy. “As president, I have three missions. First, I will follow president Tsai’s ‘four commitments’ to ensure that the country continues to exist and survive,” Lai told participants at a Lunar New Year event in Taipei hosted by the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF). Lai said his second mission is to uphold the “four pillars of peace” by bolstering national defense, developing a growing and resilient economy, building partnerships with
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his