The White House has repeated that it regrets the deaths of civilians in military raids, following an announcement that U.S-led NATO forces were responsible for the deaths of five civilians in Afghanistan in February.
The NATO mission in Afghanistan (ISAF) said on Sunday that two men and three women were killed in a night raid in the Gardez district of Paktiya Province on February 12. Previously ISAF said it was not responsible for the deaths.
Following the raid ISAF said the bodies of the five were found in a compound. However a statement issued on Sunday, ISAF says all five were killed during the raid, and that none of the five were insurgents.
ISAF says investigators could not determine conclusively how the women died because of lack of forensic evidence, but concluded they were killed as a result of NATO forces firing at the men.
The NATO mission in Afghanistan has previously rejected a claim by a Times of London reporter that international forces tried to cover up the killings.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
