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But a Defense Department investigation concluded in a report released Friday that while the bombings against Taliban insurgents in the country's Farah province were justified to support U.S. and Afghan troops, it found the civilian deaths were the result of a B-1 bomber not following command guidance, CNN reported.

"The use of military force in this engagement with the Taliban was an appropriate means to destroy that enemy threat within the requirements of the Law of Armed Conflict", the report said. "However, the inability to discern the presence of civilians and avoid and/or minimize accompanying collateral damage resulted in the unintended consequence of civilian casualties."

The U.S. broadcaster quoted Defense Department investigators saying that airstrikes by FA-18 fighters followed guidelines with no civilian deaths, but that later bombings by a B-1 bomber "did not adhere to all of the specific guidance."

At least 26 civilians and 78 Taliban fighters were killed in the clash, investigators said, warning that the civilian death toll might actually have been higher but that there was no way to determine for sure.

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