WASHINGTON, Feb 27: The US government is seeking access to DNA from Osama bin Laden’s family to test against tissue samples found at a site in Afghanistan where a CIA-operated unmanned plane hit a group of men with a “Hellfire” missile, US officials said on Wednesday.

“The US government has requested access to some DNA,” one official said.

The United States was not making the request directly to the family, but through intermediary channels, and so far had not received any DNA samples, the official told Reuters.

On Feb 4, the pilotless “Predator” spy plane struck a small group of men believed to include a senior al Qaeda official in the Zawar Kili area of mountainous eastern Afghanistan.

One of those killed was relatively tall and the others were acting deferential to him, US officials have said. That led to speculation that perhaps bin Laden had been killed because the Saudi-born militant’s height is estimated at 6 feet 4 inches to 6 feet 6 inches (193 cm to 198 cm).

The United States has accused bin Laden of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks on America which killed about 3,000 people, and has bombed Afghanistan since Oct. 7 to destroy him and his al Qaeda network and oust their Taliban protectors.

Three people were reportedly killed in the missile strike. Reports from the region quoted local residents as saying those killed were not al Qaeda members but villagers collecting scrap metal.

US officials dispute that characterization and have said the men were in Arab dress, had been observed by the spy plane for some time before the strike, and had not been collecting scrap metal.

A US military team visited the remote scene after the attack and collected tissue samples that were brought back to the United States for examination.

“I do know we have some DNA samples from the location of the strike,” Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of US military Joint Chiefs of Staff, said.

But he added that he was unaware of requests by the government for DNA samples from bin Laden’s family. “It would surprise me if we haven’t, but I’m not specifically aware that we have,” Pace told a Pentagon media briefing.

LOYA JIRGA: The commission charged with establishing a broad-based government for Afghanistan has begun to tour the country to publicize its work, receiving an enthusiastic welcome from the people, a senior official said on Wednesday.