US commander says Taliban beheadings led to US air strikes that locals say killed civilians

US commander: Taliban beheading led to air strikes

KABUL — Amid a U.S. apology for civilian deaths in Afghanistan, the commander of U.S. forces there is voicing some doubts about whether it was an American air strike that caused the tragedy.

Gen. David McKiernan (Muh-KEER’- nahn) said Wednesday that in the incident, U.S. military personnel had come to the aid of Afghan forces who may have been ambushed by the Taliban in Farah province on Sunday. He said the Taliban beheaded three civilians, perhaps to lure police.

McKiernan doesn’t dispute that civilians died. But he suggested that it might not have been the U.S. air strikes that killed them. He said the United States is working with the Afghan government to learn the truth.