deadly screw up in Afghanistan

Afghanistan blames vendetta for civilian deaths

KABUL, Afghanistan - An American military operation that killed up to 90 civilians was based on false information provided by a rival tribe and did not kill "a single Taliban," the president's spokesman said Sunday.

Afghan police arrested three suspects accused of giving the U.S. military false information that led to the bombardment of the village of Azizabad, the Afghan Interior Ministry has announced.

"There was total misinformation fed to the coalition forces," Humayun Hamidzada, the spokesman for President Hamid Karzai, told The Associated Press.

The Aug. 22 bombing has strained the U.S.-Afghan relationship, Hamidzada said. An Afghan government commission found that up to 90 civilians were killed, including 60 children, a finding backed by a preliminary U.N. report.

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