Locals look at vehicles destroyed by U.S. forces following a Jan. 23 raid at school in the town of Khas Uruzgan in the mountains of southern Afghanistan Monday Feb. 4, 2002. Bursting into rooms full of sleeping men, U.S. forces killed 19 whom witnesses and survivors say were allies of the U.S.-backed government. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

The report on the raid in Uruzgan province, which is expected to be released next week by US Central Command, also will raise new questions about whether the Central Intelligence Agency should be selecting targets as part of its growing military role in Afghanistan, according to the officials, who requested anonymity.

Investigators are said to be concentrating on erroneous information received from the CIA about two buildings a half-mile apart in the province 60 miles north of Kandahar that reportedly belonged to Taliban or Al Qaeda members.

''That is indeed being looked at,'' said one senior military official familiar with the investigation. Among the issues being reviewed are ''the procedures that led to the raid and whether we ultimately accepted the faulty intelligence'' from the CIA.

CIA officials would not comment yesterday, saying they will await the final conclusions of the investigation.

The controversial raid, which was carried out by US forces on Jan. 23 and 24, killed at least 15 Afghans. Another 27 people were taken into custody but released when US interrogators determined that they were neither Taliban nor Al Qaeda fighters. The investigation also is looking into charges that some of the captives were beaten and kicked, although Pentagon officials have denied that they were mistreated.

Investigators are trying to determine why US soldiers who carried out the raid used deadly force against Afghans allied with the new US-backed interim government. The raid could be one of the most misguided operations since the US military campaign in Afghanistan began in October.

Although the Uruzgan raid was described primarily as a military operation that involved special operations forces from different military branches, the targets in the raid were identified by the CIA and not US military spotters, defense officials said, adding that Central Command, which oversees the entire Afghan operation, provided the commandos to conduct the raid.

But there are no indications that military officials questioned the CIA's intelligence reports about the province or the targets, and Pentagon officials have been under intense pressure since the attack to answer questions over what went wrong.

Defense officials yesterday said the raid underlines their concerns about how the CIA operates under different rules of engagement - including when to use deadly force - that are more lenient than those followed by the military.

''We have different rules for developing target sets and giving the go-ahead to pull the trigger,'' another Pentagon official said.

The different standards also appear to have created tensions between the two agencies. In one instance last year - pointed out by a Defense Department official - Central Command officials called off a strike by a CIA-operated Predator spy drone even though the apparent target was Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar. In another instance, officials said, the CIA fired the Predator's missiles while military officials were deciding whether to use a warplane to strike the same target. Central Command officials reacted angrily, accusing the CIA of violating the chain of command.

The senior defense official agreed the two organizations do not always follow the same playbook: ''Our charters are different and they will remain different.''

Within days of the Uruzgan raid - and before the 27 captives were released from US military custody - CIA agents paid the families of those killed at least $1,000 each. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, asked about the payments at a Pentagon news conference, said he was not aware of the reparations, and said the investigation into what happened had yet to determine what transpired in the nighttime operation.

In another questionable operation, the CIA on Feb. 4 fired two missiles from a remote-controlled Predator spy plane near Zawar Kili in southeastern Afghanistan at what were believed to be Al Qaeda leaders, but local residents say three peasants who were collecting scrap metal were killed instead. The US military and CIA agents recovered human remains and other materials from the site and are trying to determine the identities of the victims.

The CIA's Special Activities Division, made up of teams of a half-dozen men each - about 200 are said to be in the country at any given time - were the first American forces on the ground in Afghanistan, entering the country more than a week before the start of the US military operation.

CIA agents have played a key role in lining up Afghan allies, primarily through cash payments. But the agency's activities in selecting and attacking targets have raised questions about whether it has taken on too many military functions.

The Pentagon said again yesterday the CIA is not operating independent of US military forces in Afghanistan, where special forces troops have been inserted with CIA operatives and a CIA representative is posted at Central Command headquarters in Tampa.

''Without talking about a specific incident, the cooperation and coordination in Afghanistan has been better than ever,'' said Victoria Clarke, assistant secretary of defense for public affairs. ''We feel very good about it.''

Former CIA director James Woolsey said yesterday that the CIA is often playing a military role in the Afghan conflict, but that is probably one reason it has been so successful.

But whatever the Uruzgan investigation concludes, the senior military official said, ''no one in the military will avoid the ultimate fact that the CIA didn't put a gun to our head to do the raid.''

Meanwhile, a senior Afghan intelligence official said yesterday that up to 400 Al Qaeda members are hiding in four provinces south of the capital.

The Al Qaeda forces - mostly Arabs along with a few Chechens - have regrouped in pockets in Paktia, Paktika, Khost, and Logar provinces, said General Hasm-u Din, chief of intelligence for the Ministry of Defense.

''They have their military center. They are trying to spread their propaganda among the people,'' Din said yesterday in an interview with the Globe. ''For the time being they are afraid ... so they do not dare to operate.'' Din, who said his information is based on intelligence reports, said the fugitives are lying in wait, observing the situation in Afghanistan.

''If the security gets tighter they will probably leave,'' he said. ''If the security gets looser they will probably spread out and cause problems for us in the future.''

Din also said that the government's decision to appoint an outside governor to rule the disputed city of Gardez is a signal of a new strategy by the interim government to ease tensions between feuding factions by bringing in a respected outsider.

Several dozen people cheered and threw flowers yesterday to welcome the new leader, Taj Mohammad Wardak, to Gardez, 60 miles south of Kabul in the Paktia province. Wardak, former governor of a northern province under the rule of deposed King Mohammed Zahir Shah, has been accepted by the shura, or town council, that has controlled Gardez.

But rival commander Badhsa Khan, who initially was appointed governor by the interim government, has vowed to keep his post. Even though Khan attacked the town two weeks ago, Din said Khan doesn't have the power or support base to continue fighting.

Bender reported from Washington and Bombardieri from Kabul.

© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company

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