The U.S. military would soon to admit that an Aug. airstrike in western Afghanistan killed at least 30 civilians, far more than the several civilian deaths initially reported, CNN reported Wednesday.

The airstrike in the Shindand District of the western Afghan province of Herat also killed 20 militants, said U.S. officials familiar with a report soon to be released.

In contrast, assessments from the Afghanistan government and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan concluded that 90 civilians were killed -- most of them women and children.

The U.S. military initially said that only five to seven civilians were killed.

But when cell phone pictures were later provided to the U.S. military showing dozens of bodies at the scene of the strike, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, David McKiernan, ordered a new investigation.

The incident sharpened tensions between the Afghan government and the United States over rising civilian casualties in U.S. and NATO operations.

(Xinhua News Agency October 9, 2008)