NATO soldiers were caught in an Afghan village near Gardez removing bullets from bodies. The troops were trying to conceal evidence of the killing of Afghani civilians—two men and three women—during the course of a raid to capture an insurgent.

Afghani informers often give NATO troops false targets as a way to settle scores with their personal enemies. The soldiers acted in good faith, but lacking advanced training in hostage-release operations, they were not able to discern the proper targets during the fighting.

The army is so afraid of prosecution by the media that NATO soldiers had to resort to ghastly concealment of evidence.