The US military has admitted killing 23 civilians and has reprimanded six operators of a pilot-less drone that attacked a convoy of civilians. An investigation found that warnings that the convoy was not an attacking force were ignored and that the ground-force commander was not sure who was in the vehicles.

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Women and children were among the dead. A Nato statement after the attack in February said the convoy was thought to contain Taliban fighters.

The investigation said the order to attack was based on flawed information and flawed analysis.

The US troop commander, General Stanley McChrystal, said letters of reprimand have been sent to six officers.

McChrystal had introduced tougher regulations to prevent civilian deaths, but they have not been failsafe.

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