US MASSACRE CLAIMS

A British documentary claims to have proof that American troops watched as Northern Alliance soldiers allegedly slaughtered thousands of captured Taliban fighters during the Afghan war.

The makers of Channel Five's Afghan Massacre say they have evidence that US special forces were present during the alleged atrocities - in which 3,000 are said to have died - but did nothing to stop it.

The US has denied the allegations and said no Americans were ever present.

But the documentary's producer, James Doran, believes witness statements and photographs in the documentary will leave the US authorities with no choice but to investigate.

Captured

The documentary centres on 8,000 Taliban soldiers who surrendered to the Northern Alliance following the bloody siege of Kunduz, Northern Afghanistan, in November last year.

The captured troops were to be taken to the Sheberghan Prison, about 120km away.

The programme claims soldiers loyal to the local Northern Alliance commander General Rashid Dostum loaded many of the captives into sealed containers for the journey, in which many suffocated.

One soldier admits in the documentary that when the prisoners called for air he and others fired in to the containers to ventilate them, killing more.

Witness

Another witness claims the Americans at the prison told the Afghans to take the dead outside the city.

It is claimed that among the dead taken to a part of the desert called Dasht Leili were injured and unconscious captives.

Human remains and clothing have since been discovered at the location, and the Afghanistan authorities announced in August that they would investigate.

Chris Shaw, senior programme controller for news and current affairs at Five, said: "We are not the first to report the allegations but we are the first to collate proper evidence from witnesses and information which, I think, points to a serious war crime."

Attacked

The main researcher for the documentary, Afghan journalist Najibullah Quraishi, has since had to flee to Britain after being viciously attacked during the making of the programme.

Mr Doran said he believed troops loyal to General Dostum are now targeting potential witnesses.

Afghan Massacre will be broadcast on Channel Five from Monday, November 11.