US deletes AP photographs

US forces near Sunday's bombing later deleted photos taken by a freelance photographer working for The Associated Press and video taken by a freelancer working for AP Television News. Neither the photographer nor the cameraman witnessed the suicide attack or the subsequent gunfire. It was not immediately known why the soldiers deleted the photos and videos. The US military didn't immediately comment on the matter.

The freelance photographer, Rahmat Gul, said he took photos of a four-wheel drive vehicle where three Afghans had been shot to death inside.

Afghans chant anti-U.S. slogans after an incident involving foreign troops in Bati Kot district in the eastern province of Ningarhar March 4, 2007. The U.S. military in Afghanistan said on Sunday 16 Afghan civilians were killed after a 'complex' Taliban ambush on a U.S. convoy involving a suicide car-bomb attack and militant gunfire.

An American soldier then took Gul's camera and deleted the photos. Gul said he later received permission to take photos from another soldier, but that the first soldier came back and angrily told him to delete the photos again. Gul said the soldier then raised his fist as if he was going to strike Gul.

The US forces involved in the attack and ensuing gunfire were part of the US-led coalition, not NATO's International Security Assistance Force. An official who asked not to be identified said the troops were Marine Special Forces.

Group claims responsibility

A man claiming to speak for Hezb-e-Islami, a group he said is linked with the Taliban, claimed responsibility for the bombing and identified the attacker as an Afghan named Haji Ihsanullah in a telephone call to AP. The spokesman said that the attack was carried out by a breakaway faction of Hezb-e-Islami that was once led by Younis Khalis, a former mujahedeen commander who died last year. The group is now believed to be led by a son of Khalis.

The purported spokesman, who identified himself as Qari Sajjad, said the explosion "destroyed two vehicles, killing or injuring American soldiers." Sajjad said the attack was in revenge for "cruel acts" done to Afghans by US forces.

Lt. Col. David Accetta, a coalition spokesman, said the attack demonstrated the militants' "blatant disregard for human life" by attacking forces in a populated area. NATO officials repeatedly say that suicide bombs aimed at international and Afghan forces kill far more civilians than soldiers.

In southern Afghanistan, meanwhile, two soldiers were killed during a combat operation Saturday, though NATO's International Security Assistance Force did not identify their nationalities or say where the violence happened.

Helmand province, where British troops operate, has seen a number of clashes the last several weeks. Canada also has soldiers in the south, in neighboring Kandahar province.

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