http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/09/world/asia/09afghanistan.html

September 8, 2011

G.I. Killed Afghan Journalist, NATO Says

By RAY RIVERA

KABUL, Afghanistan -- NATO acknowledged Thursday that an American soldier killed an Afghan journalist working for the BBC after mistaking him for a suicide bomber during a complex attack in southern Afghanistan in July.

The acknowledgment came weeks after family members of the reporter, Ahmed Omed Khpulwak, had raised questions about his death, and after an independent investigation had found strong clues suggesting that Mr. Khpulwak was not killed by insurgents in the suicide attack as initially believed. Last month, the BBC demanded an investigation by NATO.

NATO officials apologized to the family on Thursday and issued a two-page summary of the episode. The report said the soldier believed Mr. Khpulwak had fired on American troops and was about to detonate a suicide vest when he "shot the individual with his M-4, killing him."

Gen. John R. Allen, the top commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, ordered the investigation. The report found the soldier "complied with the laws of armed conflict and rules of engagement and acted reasonably under the circumstances."

Peter Horrocks, director of BBC Global News, said in a statement that Mr. Khpulwak's death "further highlights the great dangers facing journalists who put their lives on the line to provide vital news from around the world." The news service said it was awaiting the full report and would study the findings.

The shooting took place on July 28 in the city of Tirin Kot, the capital of Oruzgan Province, after a surprise noontime attack by insurgents on the provincial governor's compound and a compound belonging to RTA, the national television station, where Mr. Khpulwak was filing a story. The attack left 21 people dead, half of them children, when a wall next to the governor's compound collapsed on a maternity ward next door filled with women and children.

The report describes a chaotic situation as American soldiers arrived at the RTA compound. As they moved in to clear the building, two suicide bombers detonated their explosive vests, trapping some soldiers under a collapsed wall.

Soldiers then spotted a young man later identified as Mr. Khpulwak next to a partly collapsed wall and, hearing gunshots, opened fire. One soldier then saw Mr. Khpulwak "with something clinched in one of his fists and reaching for something on his person with the other hand," the report said. The soldier believed Mr. Khpulwak was reaching for a detonator and killed him, the report said.

Afghan forces later removed Mr. Khpulwak's body. He was unarmed and no weapons were found nearby, the report said. Investigators also said it appeared the gunshots perceived to be coming from Mr. Khpulwak's direction were "instead fired by U.S. soldiers."

An investigation last month by Kate Clark, a former BBC journalist who now works for the Afghanistan Analysts Network, based in Kabul, said that the police had told Mr. Khpulwak's brother, Jawid, that as American soldiers approached Mr. Khpulwak, who spoke English, he showed them his press identification cards and said, "I am a journalist." The police later denied the claim when asked to repeat it on the record, Ms. Clark wrote.

In an interview with the newspaper The Guardian on Thursday, Mr. Khpulwak's brother expressed doubts about NATO's findings. "They thought he was a suicide bomber, but how?" he was quoted saying. "He spoke English and would have been showing his press card."

Mr. Khpulwak was the 20th journalist killed in Afghanistan since the American-led invasion in October 2001, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Also on Thursday, two NATO soldiers were killed in a bomb explosion in southern Afghanistan. In keeping with policy, NATO did not identify the nationality of the soldiers pending notification of their families. And five Afghan National Army soldiers were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in the eastern province of Khost.