Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/nato-to-probe-strike-that-killed-dozens-of-civilians Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript NATO plans to launch an investigation into an airstrike aimed at Taliban militants on Friday that inadvertently struck and killed scores of civilians. Meanwhile, in Britain, Prime Minister Gordon Brown sought to reassure skeptics about the rising number of British casualties in Afghanistan. ITN reports. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. JIM LEHRER: We start with today's airstrike on a fuel truck hijacked by the Taliban in northern Kunduz Province. Afghan officials said dozens of civilians died. Sue Turton of Independent Television News narrates this report.SUE TURTON, ITN'S CHANNEL 4 NEWS CORRESPONDENT: One minute villagers were scavenging for spilt fuel. The next, an airstrike set everything ablaze. The Taliban fighters had been trying to drag the hijacked tankers out of the mud after getting stuck crossing a river. They dumped some of the fuel to lighten the load.As many as 500 local people grabbed buckets to collect the discarded kerosene. A huge fireball engulfed them. People were killed, including a 10-year-old boy.At a local hospital, the driver of one of the tankers revealed that he had warned the military about the Taliban fighters. MAN (through translator): The Taliban were there from 2:00 yesterday. I told the military about them and warned they would hijack us. They said they would tell their base, but no one came to help us until much later. SUE TURTON: Local police said 40 of the dead and many of the dozens who were badly burned were civilians. NATO forces were reluctant to believe it.German troops patrol this northern province. German commanders had called in air support. A statement from Berlin reported that there were no civilians among the dead. In Kabul, a forces spokesman confirmed that NATO had checked there were no civilians in the area before launching the strike, but it later promised an immediate investigation.ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSEN, secretary-general, NATO: Certainly, a number of Taliban were killed. There is also the possibility of civilian casualties as well, but it is not yet clear. SUE TURTON: Footage emerged today of an attack on U.S. Marines in southern Afghanistan. Lance Corporal Joshua Bernard is shot. He's evacuated, but later dies on the operating table. His comrades gathered to pay their respects. The human cost of this war continues to mount on both sides.