Huzur said it feels as if the blessed month of Ramadan started just yesterday. Even the middle ten days of the month are nearly over and the last ten days are upon us. In a tradition of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) it is related that the first ten days of Ramadan bring Allah’s mercy, the middle ten days His forgiveness and the last ten days save one from the fire of Hell.

Huzur said he would give a discourse about the distinction of the current ten days of Ramadan and also the last ten days. Allah has commanded Istaghfar (seeking forgiveness) on believers and as well as His prophets have enjoined it. When Allah states ‘seek forgiveness’ He also declares ‘surely, Allah is Most Forgiving, Merciful’ (2:200). When Allah has His Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) announce that this is a month of forgiveness and also states it Himself, then He also forgives. It is not possible that His servants turn to Him for forgiveness and are not forgiven. In actual fact, forgiveness and salvation from Fire are linked together through distancing oneself from Satan and seeking Allah’s nearness.

It is with His mercy alone that one is enabled to fast and Allah forgives all of one’s past sins and covers one with His forgiveness. Forgiveness too is with His mercy. The continuation of repentance and forgiveness carries on with His mercy. As it carries on a person endeavours to be completely sincere with Allah, he does good works and follows all the commandment and as a result he is saved from Fire. Surely Fire cannot touch one who attains the beneficence of Allah’s pleasure.

The three sets of 10 days of Ramadan are interconnected and their excellences are conditional to one’s practices, one’s deeds. It is not just not eating food etc. between dawn and dusk that makes a person deserving of the beneficence of Ramadan. Indeed Allah creates a special environment for Ramadan where He puts Satan in fetters and Himself comes nearer to mankind. It is then the task of His servants to make concerted efforts to seek His blessings. Huzur read an excerpt from the writings of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) elucidating Divine forgiveness and said that Allah states I forgive the sins of one who repents even if the sins are [the size of] mountains. Huzur said when Allah is so forgiving in ordinary times then during Ramadan His mercy must shower down. Fortunate are those who take advantage of His mercy and His forgiveness. There is still time to seek His mercy and forgiveness. When a person turns to Him in absolute humility then Allah states no one is as merciful as I am.

Huzur said in order to attain Divine mercy and forgiveness we need to look and search. Allah declares especially in these days that His door is open. Whoever will look for Him will find His door open. Allah has employed the words ‘I am near’ (2:187) in the Qur’an when citing Ramadan. Allah says come into the refuge of My forgiveness. Even in ordinary times My mercy is more and My chastisement is less but in the days of Ramadan further doors of mercy are opened. Indeed the Holy Qur’an states: ‘…they would have surely found Allah Oft-Returning with compassion, and Merciful.’ (4:65). Allah says I am Merciful and Compassionate but man continues to wrong his soul and does not ask for forgiveness. Huzur said Hadith relates as well as the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) has said that whenever a person ‘walks’ towards Allah, Allah runs to him. As the Qur’an states: ‘And as for those who strive in Our path - We will, surely, guide them in Our ways. And, verily, Allah is with those who do good.’ (29:70)

Huzur said Istaghfar is the way to Allah. The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said that the real and true meanings of Istaghfar are to supplicate to Allah that one’s human frailties are not evident and one is taken in the sphere of His help that He may cover one’s natural weaknesses. Huzur said it is not possible that one’s human weaknesses are not evident, Satan is ever ready to attack. Therefore it is only possible to stay protected with continuous Istaghfar and continually seeking Allah’s pleasure, otherwise as the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said Satan runs in a person’s bloodstream. Huzur said we will truly avail of this when we make all that we have attained during Ramadan part of our lives. Otherwise just as some diseases cannot be completely eradicated, they stay dormant in the body and when a person is not strong physically they are active once again. Similarly one’s moral and spiritual ills are curbed through Istaghfar and Istaghfar also provides future protection from them. It is Allah’s grace and favour that He has commanded us to continually focus on Istaghfar and has also provided an ‘intensive spiritual training’ in the form of Ramadan once a year to facilitate our attainment of Divine nearness and spiritual development. If it was to be understood that one concentrated during these ten days and forgot about it all for the rest of the year then these days cannot be ten days of forgiveness. We can only achieve success in this respect if we strive and promise not to repeat our past mistakes. This indeed is true Istaghfar.

Explaining the two words Istaghfar and Taubah (repentance) that are cited in the Holy Qur’an many times Huzur cited verse 4 of Surah Hud and said this is the true Istaghfar and repentance that Allah wants. The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) explained the difference between Istaghfar and repentance and said the Muslim ummah is granted two things, one to attain strength and the other to put the attained strength in practice. That is, Istaghfar is a weapon with which Satan can be contended with and Taubah is the usage of this weapon. That is to say the manifestation of those practical strengths which will help keep Satan away and our nafs (self) is never vanquished. For this one has to continually strive to do pious deeds which are commanded, otherwise Istaghfar does not bring any results.

During Ramadan one may fulfil all the requisites but if he does not put the Quranic commandments in practice like not usurping one’s brother, then this will not be real Istaghfar and repentance. When Allah enables one to cover one’s faults and weaknesses then one needs to promptly replace them with good and pious things otherwise if the vessel of one’s heart remains empty Satan fills it up again. Allah states in the Holy Quran about sincere repentance (66:9) that through it Allah removes the evil consequences of one’s deeds. Huzur said it is one’s obligation to always be mindful of honouring Allah’s rights as well as the rights of mankind. Huzur said sincere repentance requires three things. Each evil first takes shape in one’s mind. Therefore unless one purifies one’s mind, one’s thoughts, repentance cannot be sincere. Then, if somehow a bad thought does come, one should get rid of it and feel remorseful about it. Huzur said things like arrogating others’ rights etc. are evil and take one away from sincere repentance. A sincere repentance would be when one is extremely anxious even at a small mistake. Of course, one who repents should be resolute in one’s objective. Huzur said if these three things are inculcated then Allah grants the capacity for sincere repentance so much so that one’s ills are replaced with high morals. True repentance transforms ills into piety as Allah states in the Qur’an in (25:71).

Huzur said a revolutionary change is required in that one seeks forgiveness, is remorseful and then makes an unwavering resolve to try and bring each deed and each practice in accordance with Allah’s commandment. During fasting one gets training for resilience and fortitude - all this combined should result in making the ten days of forgiveness actually bring forgiveness and facilitate reaping benefit from the next ten days. In this way the following month after month and indeed year after year will make way for forgiveness. Huzur said this is the spirit of the [aforementioned] saying of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) which we should try and understand.

Fortunate are those who do true Istaghfar and repentance during Ramadan and witness its effects and are thus the recipient of Allah’s mercy. It is man who is negligent otherwise Allah is ever turning to His servants and accepts their repentance as it is cited in (4:28) in the Holy Qur’an. Therefore it is the task of His servants to do Istaghfar and turn to Allah during this month when His mercy and forgiveness is granted more than at other times. We should try our utmost to derive benefit from this. Citing (25:72) Huzur said when Allah states that the middle ten days of Ramadan are of forgiveness, their effect will only materialise when effort is made to aim every deed in accordance with Divine teachings. Then alone will the last ten days of Ramadan bring us salvation from Fire. Citing verse 84 of Surah Al Anfal (8:34) Huzur said during Ramadan when one is fulfilling all requirements and is also practising good deeds, is responding to petulant people by simply saying, ‘I am fasting’ and is striving to make such demeanour part of one’s life, one will be attaining Allah’s pleasure and as one is attaining His pleasure one is freeing oneself from the Fire and ultimately entering His Paradise.

Huzur said usually the so-called religious leaders of Pakistan try and influence people to persecute Ahmadis in emotional, financial and spiritual ways. However, the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) has taught us never to let go of patience and steadfastness in particular during Ramadan. Allah and His Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) have given glad-tidings of Paradise to that true believer who does good works. Then, in this specific blessed month when one is receiving training through enhanced praying and worship, one may be striving to bring Paradise closer still. It is to people who do sincere and good works that Allah addresses in verse 13 of Surah Al Dahr (76:13) and promises them supreme reward. Today if we are persecuted it is because we have obeyed Allah’s commandment. Let the enemy transgress. Show steadfastness because we are those who wish to seek Allah’s pleasure. The Qur’an is full of warnings for the transgressor and Allah knows best how He will deal with them.

Huzur said during these days we should pray for mankind in general and Muslims in particular. The majority of Muslims are highly charged and emotional about faith but rather unaware of religious teachings or perhaps frightened of the so-called religious scholars who lead them astray. During the last ten days of Ramadan we should exercise patience, do good works and pledge to tread the path of taqwa. We will then be those who save themselves from the Fire and who attain Paradise. We should endeavour to be counted among people who are cited in (50:32) of the Holy Qur’an. We should try and spend the last few days of Ramadan in the manner which Allah and His Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) commanded. May we be enabled to gather blessings in the last ten days and do good works.

THE MARTYRDOMS:

Huzur said after Jummah he would lead some funeral prayers in absentia. Huzur said last week he had requested for prayers for brother Sheikh Saeed Ahmad sahib who had been injured. After twelve days in the hospital he has passed away. Inna lillahe wa inna alaihe raji’oon. This shaheed too was young of age; he was 42 years old and was only married last year. It was during his hospitalization that his first-born was born. He was given this news of a baby boy to which he could not respond verbally but his eyes became tearful. Huzur said his family has had three other martyrs, including his father, his brother and an uncle. Sheikh Seed shaheed was very keen on Tabligh and had been imprisoned once on the complaint of a maulwi. He is survived by his wife, baby son and an elderly mother. Huzur said when he mentioned the martyrs last week he had referred to Dr. Abdul Mannan. He was very well known in his area, in addition his region is larger than the region of the other martyr. This does not in any way mean that there is any difference in the status of the martyrs. Someone wrote to Huzur and only sent condolences for Dr. Abdul Mannan’s martyrdom. Huzur said the other martyr from last week’s Sermon, Saith sahib was also known to Huzur personally. He had great passion for religion and would always come to meet Huzur every time Huzur went to his region and Huzur said he had visited the area many times. Huzur said he wanted to clarify this.

Next Huzur said recently our Syrian sister Merwa passed away. She was involved in a road accident. She was a young woman of 24 and was working very hard on our Arabic website. She had also translated a book on Zakat for alislam.org website. She was working on having it published and was going to see the printers or such like when she met with the accident. She was a pious young lady. Her fiancé Muhammad Malas sahib also works at MTA Al Arabia. May Allah forgive her and elevate her status.

Another Syrian Ahmadi, Sami Kazak sahib has also recently passed away. He had great passion for faith. He had come for Jalsa Salana in 1996 and the affection of Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih IV (may Allah have mercy on him) further enhanced his faith. On his return he gave away one of his houses for the use of the Community. He was a pious, sociable person. May Allah elevate his status and enable his children to join the Ahmadiyya Community.

DUMBASS

look at the clown, listen to him speak

got robbed by a hooker that same night and overinflated the value of his losses:

http://www.yestodemocracy.com/yes_to_democracy_no_to_pu/2008/09/karma-in-action.html

looks like a typical hell-dweller

nothing has changed yet the rhetoric of the IAEA is changing to make it more feasible to justify sanctions and/or an attack…

this isn’t good news:

Big-bang report blasts Iran

By Kaveh L Afrasiabi

One week ahead of the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations in New York, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has issued a new report that while confirming the agency’s full-scope inspection and verification of Iran’s nuclear activities, discovering no evidence of any military diversion, is permeated with “serious concerns” and “outstanding questions”.

These questions relate to certain “alleged studies” and the overall effect could be a shot in the arm for the flagging “Iran Six” multilateral diplomacy on Iran involving the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China plus Germany. This could lead to even more sanctions on Iran, or worse, an Israeli or American strike against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

The IAEA describes a collection of weaponization designs and documents that suggest Iran has tried to develop a nuclear warhead as “alleged studies” and wants Tehran to identify the factually corrects parts of the documents and those it considers fabricated.

“Iran so far has not been forthcoming in replying to our questions and we seem to be at a dead end there,” a senior United Nations official was quoted as saying on Monday.

A senior Iranian official quoted by Reuters retorted that the IAEA was to blame for the impasse and that the nuclear agency should work in a “legal and logical” manner.

A White House spokesman said the report showed “once again that Iran is refusing to cooperate with the international community” and that Iran would face “further implementation of the existing United Nations Security Council sanctions and the possibility of new sanctions” if it did not suspend uranium enrichment. The UN has imposed three rounds of sanctions against Iran and further US and European sanctions have been unilaterally implemented.

Since the outbreak of the Georgia crisis with Russia last month, the efforts of the “Iran Six” have been stalled, given the widespread antagonistic response to Moscow’s intervention in the breakaway state of South Ossetia. The latest IAEA report will likely act as a timely, though questionable and partly flawed, glue binding the recalcitrant Russians (and Chinese) to the US-led chariot of sanctions on Iran.

Arab groups such as the Gulf Cooperation Council have recently expressed concerns about Iran’s nuclear program. They will now be pleased that the IAEA’s often controversial yet ultimately conformist director general, Mohamed ElBaradei, has invoked a seemingly infinite array of “outstanding questions”.

This is despite the fact that in his previous two reports ElBaradei closed the books on “outstanding questions” in terms of nuclear transparency between Iran and the IAEA.

This means ElBaradei will not be content to issue a clean bill of health for Iran until it has compromised its national security by disclosing all its military, for example missile, secrets, including the “R&D [research and development] activities of military-related institutes and companies”.

ElBaradei at the same time wants people to believe his agency’s probing these activities will not expose Iran to the danger of compromising its national security.

To this end he has proposed a “modality” to Iran whereby sensitive conventional weapons secrets would be protected.

The problem is the IAEA’s failed record with respect to Iraq, where eventually the US utilized information procured by the IAEA to help justify its invasion in 2003.

The Iraq analogy is hardly misleading. Just as Iraq was pressed to “prove a negative”, that is, the absence of a clandestine weapons of mass destruction program, the IAEA is now dead set on denying Iran a clean bill of health as long as it has not satisfied concerns about a similar absence.

Consequently, irrespective of his proposed modality, ElBaradei in his report cites a long laundry list of military-related individuals, institutes and other places that need to be investigated thoroughly before the atomic agency can fully ascertain the “absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran”. That places the bar artificially high and well beyond what the report’s title, about Iran’s nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) safeguard agreement, calls for.

The IAEA is now suddenly firmly sold on the authenticity and trustworthiness of the information regarding the “alleged studies” - much of it provided by US intelligence - even though all outstanding questions were said previously to have been settled in Iran’s favor.

Citing information that Iran’s alleged experiments involving testing of the detonation of hemispheres of explosives “may have involved the assistance of foreign experts”, the IAEA report essentially disregards Iran’s May 117-page response to the IAEA. This, in the words of Iran’s representative to the agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, “presents multiple evidence” concerning the fake or “fabricated” nature of alleged documents pertaining to the “weaponization studies”.

Iran has not been given any of those documents, only their “electronic version”, which makes it doubly difficult to prove or disprove their authenticity. Yet ElBaradei is now a full convert to their authenticity, informing us in a footnote that this documentation come from “multiple sources over different periods of time, is detailed in content and appears to be consistent”.

None of this washes the taint of a new leap toward subjectivity on ElBaradei’s part. First, what if the multiple sources consist of the US’s junior partners in their collective crusade to checkmate Iran’s rising power, and Israel is one of those sources.

It is irrelevant if the documentation pertains to one or more periods of time, and ElBaradei is outright wrong in using this as a criteria of their authenticity. The same goes for their being detailed, since in today’s high-tech surveillance that is taken for granted. As for being “consistent”, that only means that the other side has done a good job in putting out believable disinformation. Some of this cannot be disproved short of risking Iran’s legitimate military secrets, such as on high-explosives testing and military related activities. ElBaradei states flatly that Iran “might have additional information” regarding these matters that it has stubbornly refused to share with the IAEA.

Putting the Washington-desired spin on all of this is the adjective “gridlock”, invoked by some sources close to the IAEA, per an article by American nuclear expert David Albright. He fails to add that this is largely a manufactured gridlock that is less due to Iran “stonewalling” and more the result of a weak agency that continues to allow itself to be manipulated by the big powers. This is irrespective of the IAEA’s own admission, repeated no less than 15 times throughout the report, that there is no evidence of military diversion from peaceful nuclear activities.

Iran has made steady progress in mastering the nuclear fuel cycle, which is a right under the NPT, to which it is a signatory. IAEA officials would be hard-pressed to show any other country, such as Japan or Brazil, which has subjected itself to such thorough inspections.

The IAEA report of September 15 says that IAEA inspectors had made 17 unannounced visits at the fuel enrichment plant in Natanz where, per Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, the IAEA has installed cameras at the main halls, where the cascades are placed, and all nuclear material is accounted for. In the case of Russian-delivered fuel at the nuclear plant at Bushehr, it remains under the agency’s seal.

Still, give the IAEA partial credit. The ElBaradei report repeatedly states that the nearly 500 kilograms of enriched uranium produced by Iran are all “low-enriched” and not highly enriched or “weapons-grade”, contrary to misinformation put out by certain Western experts. See The next peace and false bells on Iran Asia Times Online, September 12, 2008.)

This should mean there is little cause for concern about Iran as long as it continues with its NPT obligations and allows systematic inspection of its facilities by the IAEA, per the parameters of Iran-IAEA safeguard agreements.

There is reason to worry when additional unreasonable pressures and threats are added, the latest being the manner in which the IAEA has eschewed its previous glowing appraise of Iran’s nuclear transparency in favor of “serious concerns” about the lack of “substantive progress” on the “alleged studies”.

Iran could capitulate and satisfy the concerns about making progress by simply admitting to the allegations made against it. The tone of ElBaradei’s report leads one to believe the real progress needed is a more independent agency.

Kaveh L Afrasiabi, PhD, is the author of After Khomeini: New Directions in Iran’s Foreign Policy (Westview Press) and co-author of “Negotiating Iran’s Nuclear Populism”, Brown Journal of World Affairs, Volume XII, Issue 2, Summer 2005, with Mustafa Kibaroglu. He also wrote “Keeping Iran’s nuclear potential latent”, Harvard International Review, and is author of Iran’s Nuclear Program: Debating Facts Versus Fiction. For his Wikipedia entry, click here.

discuss possible manufactured chaos, the controllers, inventors, subversion of technology, “their” (khazar jewish) system, the roadblocks, culture engineering, where its headed, solutions, spirituality, and cyclical cataclysms

we have good rapport but it’s usually even better than this…

Sept 9, 2008: Andre & Khanverse Discussion

Andre’s Forum: http://www.outlawjournalism.com/forum

The debates referenced in the audio:

Khan VS Andre Debate Part I

how many is that in the last 4 years now? 8?

who else has any need to do terrorism in Lebanon? cui bono?

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1221034884186&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Bomb kills pro-Syrian Lebanese politician east of Beirut

Sep. 10, 2008

Associated Press , THE JERUSALEM POST

A bomb tore through a car in the hills east of Lebanon’s capital on Wednesday, killing a Druse politician who recently helped reconcile rival factions within that minority community, police said.

The bomb that killed Sheik Saleh Aridi, a senior member of the Lebanese Democratic Party, was planted in his car in the village of Baissour, police said.

It was the first political assassination in about a year in Lebanon and came less than a week before planned reconciliation talks among rival Lebanese factions. Prime Minister Fuad Saniora contacted Druse leaders and joined them in calling for calm.

Six other people were injured in the blast, which went off as Aridi got into his Mercedes sedan in front of his house in the Druse-populated hills near the resort town of Aley, police said. Police said the charge was stuck under the car’s body, below the driver’s seat, and blew up as the car rolled. Officials believe it was triggered either by remote control or by a motion sensor.

The police officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of government regulations.

The bomb tore off the roof of the vehicle. Television footage showed investigators sifting through the blackened hulk of the vehicle with flashlights.

The bomb’s target was unusual. Aridi, like his party, was among those Lebanese politicians allied with Syria, a nation that had long dominated its politically fractured neighbor. A string of bombs have largely targeted politicians opposed to Syria’s influence in Lebanese affairs, starting with the Beirut truck bombing that killed former Premier Rafik Hariri in 2005.

Those attacks were blamed by many on Syria, though it has denied involvement.

Lebanon’s political standoff between pro- and anti-Syrian factions boiled over into fighting in Beirut and the Druse hills east of the capital in May.

During those clashes, Shi’ite fighters of the Syrian-backed Hizbullah overran Sunni pro-government strongholds and fought an anti-Syrian Druse faction in the region where the bomb went off Wednesday. An Arab-brokered agreement defused the tension, leading to the election of a new president and the formation of a national unity Cabinet that includes the two major blocs.

Nazih Abu Ibrahim, a colleague of Aridi in the party’s political bureau, said the aim of the assassination was to rekindle violence between rivals in the Druse-inhabited mountains. The area is controlled by two main Druse factions, the Lebanese Democratic Party led by Talal Arsalan and the Progressive Socialist Party of Walid Jumblatt.

“It was a bloody message,” Abu Ibrahim said on Hizbullah’s al-Manar television, noting that the conciliatory atmosphere in recent weeks prompted party officials to relax their security measures.

In addition to the historic rivalry between those two factions for control of the Druse community, the two parties are also on opposite sides of the divide over Syria. Arsalan is allied with the Syrian-backed Hizbullah and Jumblatt is a prominent leader of the anti-Syrian camp.

Since the May fighting, the two leaders reconciled and worked toward unity of the minority Druse sect and to prevent infighting. Aridi was a key liaison between the two sides and helped mediate an end to the fighting between Hizbullah and Jumblatt’s men in the region around his hometown.

The Druse are a secretive offshoot Islamic sect with communities in Lebanon, Syria and Israel.

Jumblatt went to the village after the explosion to express solidarity and attempt to defuse tensions. He said whoever was behind the bombing did not like the conciliatory air among political factions nationwide in recent weeks.

Arsalan was out of the country. His deputy, Ziad Choueiri, said the attack aimed at undermining security. “Stability and civil peace are red lines. We will not allow them to be crossed,” he said on al-Jadeed TV from the scene.

The bombing came amid efforts to cement reconciliation among the factions and defuse sectarian tension. In addition to next week’s conference called for by the president, Sunni and Alawite factions in Tripoli reached a truce and entrusted security in the city to the Lebanese army.

imagine if this was jew massacre..

given that they were behind 9/11 and other attacks on this country you’d think that’d be more justified than this… but they are the chosen people of course

wow.

http://www.muslimmassacre.com

speechless

the man’s telling them not to cry in pushto

click the links for video:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20705.htm

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20706.htm

Last night the Pentagon announced that it was reopening the investigation in the light of “emerging evidence” and was sending an officer to Nawabad to review its previous inquiry. Villagers and the UN insist that 92 were killed, including as many as 60 children. Locals say that the US and Afghan troops who came into the village looking for a Taleban commander, with US air support, used excessive force.

In the video scores of bodies are seen laid out in a building that villagers say is used as a mosque; the people were killed apparently during a combined operation by US special forces and Afghan army commandos in western Afghanistan. The film was shot on a mobile phone by an Afghan doctor who arrived the next morning.

Local people say that US forces bombed preparations for a memorial ceremony for a tribal leader. Residential compounds were levelled by US attack helicopters, armed drones and a cannon-armed C130 Spectre gunship.

However, US commanders and Pentagon officials have said repeatedly that seven civilians died alongside 35 Taleban militants during a legitimate combat operation, the target of which was a meeting of Taleban leaders.

The villagers’ accounts have been supported by separate investigations conducted by the UN, by Afghanistan’s leading human rights organisation and by an Afghan government delegation. Two Afghan army officers involved in the operation have been dismissed.

The Pentagon’s original investigation concluded last week that US forces used close air support after coming under heavy fire during a mission to seize a Taleban commander named Mullah Sadiq. They allege that he died in the operation.

The US military said that its findings were corroborated by an independent journalist embedded with the US force. He was named as the Fox News correspondent Oliver North, who came to prominence in the 1980s Iran-Contra affair, when he was an army colonel.

Sources close to one of the investigations said that a video film was shot by Afghan officials the morning after the attack. It corroborates the doctor’s footage but has not been made public.

In a statement released on Saturday, the commander of Nato forces, General David McKiernan, appeared to back away from previous US accounts. He said: “Following the recent operation in Azizabad, Shindand district, we realise there is a large discrepancy between the number of civilian casualties reported by soldiers and local villagers. I remain responsible to continue to try and account for this disparity in numbers, but above all I want to express our heartfelt sorrow to all families that lost loved ones in this firefight.”

A Human Rights Watch report due to be published today is highly critical of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan for the number of civilians killed in airstrikes. It gives warning that repeated instances of Western forces killing Afghan civilians have led to a collapse in popular support for the international presence.

Taking what it says are the most conservative figures available, Human Rights Watch has calculated that civilian deaths as a result of Western airstrikes tripled between 2006 and 2007 to 321. In the first seven months of this year the figure was 119. In the same period, 367 civilian deaths were attributed to Taleban attacks. It accuses US officials of routinely denying reports of civilian deaths.

Maulavi Gul Ahmad, an Afghan MP who was part of a government delegation that investigated the Nawabad attack, told The Times: “We are not only blaming America – this is destroying the reputation of the international community and undermining their presence in Afghanistan.”

Other Afghan investigators alleged that US forces had been duped into attacking the village by tribal figures involved in a local feud.

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan

December 2001
US aircraft attack a convoy taking tribal leaders to the inauguration of new Afghan Government. About 60 killed; US claims al-Qaeda leaders among them

July 2002
46 die, many from same family, when a wedding party in Uruzgan province is bombed in error

October 26, 2006
Between 40 and 85 civilians are killed in airstrikes and mortar bombardments around the settlement of Zangawat in Kandahar province

March 2007
19 people are killed and 50 wounded when US Marine Special Forces fire on civilians after a suicide attack in Shinwar, eastern Afghanistan. The US military apologises and pays compensation to the families

July 6, 2008
47 civilians, including 39 women and children attending a wedding party, are killed by a US airstrike in Nangarhar province, an Afghan government investigating team claims