SYDNEY, June 1: The Australian military will investigate allegations that troops took a turban and a weapon from one of 11 tribesmen killed in a bungled operation in Afghanistan three years ago, the government said on Wednesday.

Time Magazine’s Asia-Pacific edition reported this week that Australian troops also wounded 16 civilians when they triggered a firefight in Afghanistan during a May 2002 operation to hunt down Al Qaeda and Taliban militants.

According to the article, a Special Air Service (SAS) soldier took the gun and turban of one of the dead as a souvenir. Australian Defence Force chief Peter Cosgrove told a senate committee on Tuesday that the military had investigated the incident and found that the soldiers had acted in accordance with the rules of engagement.

But Mr Cosgrove said he would look into the claims of stealing from the dead.

Time said the fighting began when five Australian SAS soldiers who were part of a US-led patrol near Zambar village close to the restive southeastern city of Khost shot dead two Afghans they took to be militants.

Other armed men then began firing on the soldiers and tribesmen who believed they were under fire from a rival tribe also became involved in the battle. In all 11 Afghan civilians were killed.—AFP