MIAMI (AFP) — US Marines "acted appropriately" during a firefight in Afghanistan last year which left up to 10 civilians dead and triggered angry protests, the military said in a statement Friday.
A statement from the US Marine Corps Central Command in Florida said after reviewing evidence from a court of inquiry, the marines had followed established procedures after coming under attack in eastern Afghanistan on March 4, 2007.
Lieutenant General Samuel Helland said a Marines convoy had acted in "accordance with the rules of engagement" during the incident, which was later condemned by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Helland said troops in a five-vehicle convoy had responded to a "complex attack", after being rocked by a car bomb and small arms fire.
A Marine spokesman said the court of inquiry's findings of facts, recommendations and opinions would not be released.
As the convening authority, Helland can ignore the court's findings. So it was unknown what the basis was for the general's decision.
An investigation into the incident and a separate skirmish in Afghanistan on March 9 which left two Afghan civilians injured took place over three and a half weeks earlier this year.
The Marines said two colonels and a lieutenant colonel had examined more than 12,000 pages of documents and heard testimony from more than 45 witnesses.
The statement said three Marines -- Major Fred Galvin, Captain Robert Olsen and Captain Vincent Noble -- would face "appropriate administrative action" as a result of manning and training issues brought to light during the inquiry.
The US Marine Corps has faced scrutiny for a string of cases involving civilian deaths during deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The most high-profile case has seen several Marines charged following the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha in November 2005.
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