Afghanistan: Payments made for victims of U.S. raid

American officers distributed $40,000 on Tuesday to relatives of 15 people killed Jan. 19 in a United States raid. American forces raided the village of Inzeri, north of Kabul, killing a militant commander and 14 people the villagers say were civilians. Col. Greg Julian, a spokesman for the American military, told the villagers the soldiers had not fired until they were fired on. "If there was collateral damage, I'm very sorry about that," he said. American officials paid $2,500 each to representatives of the 15 people killed, $500 each for two wounded men and $1,500 for village repairs. A military lawyer said the payments were not an admission that innocents had been killed. Gul Akbar, 24, who said his father died in the raid, thanked Colonel Julian and said, "I'm just very sad someone gave the other soldiers the wrong information."