Fresh evidence suggesting that US-led forces attempted to cover up civilian casualties in Afghanistan has emerged through leaked military documents.

They include an internal account of a disastrous operation by US Marines near the city of Jalalabad in March 2007, in which 19 unarmed civilians are said to have died and up to 50 injured.

US commanders later accepted that dozens of Afghan civilians had been killed or injured in the shootings, as the marines extracted themselves from the scene of a suicide bombing in which one of their number received shrapnel wounds.

But the original incident report makes no reference to the carnage, noting only that the servicemen had “returned to JAF (Jalalabad Air Field)”.

The “war logs” also detail how US special forces arranged for six 2,000lb bombs to be dropped on a compound in Helmand Province in August 2007 in an incident in which up to 300 civilians were later claimed to have been killed.

According to extracts, an internal US account of the operation states that efforts had been made to ensure that “there were no innocent Afghans in the surrounding area”.

It adds that commanders believed that “high value” Taliban targets were meeting in compound.

The records log a total of 144 incidents involving Afghan civilian casualties, in which 195 non-combatants are said to have died and 174 injured.

They include at least 21 cases allegedly involving British forces which are said to have led to the deaths of at least 26 people, among them 16 children.

The disclosures have led to allegations that coalition forces may have committed “war crimes” in Afghanistan.

In London, the British Ministry of Defence said it was examining the leaks.

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Julian Assange, the Australian founder of Wikileaks, has said he has been warned by "inside sources in the White House" not to return to the US as he could be arrested.

The 39 year-old told journalists at the Frontline Club last night that USgovernment insiders had informed him about discussions to charge him as a co-conspirator to espionage.

The discussions were later dropped.

Mr Assange says despite this he still fears he is at risk of being forcefully detained by the US government as a material witness in the prosecution of US intelligence analyst Bradley Manning.

Mr Manning, 22, was arrested in Baghdad in May and charged earlier this month with multiple counts of mishandling and leaking classified data, after a computer hacker turned him in.

In the United States an authority has the right to detain and hold a material witness for an indefinite period to ensure they give their testimony in a criminal investigation.

The Wikileaks founder said: "Today the White House put out a private briefing to reporters about Wikileaks and me and it quoted a section from an interview with me in Der Spiegel saying that I enjoy crushing --------.

"Somehow the White House finds that offensive.

"In terms of returning to the United States I don't know. Our sources advise from inside the US government that there were thoughts of whether I could be charged as a co-conspirator to espionage, which is serious.

"That doesn't seem to be the thinking within the United States any more however there is the other possibility of being detained as a material witness and being kept either in confinement or not being allowed to leave the country until the Manning case is concluded."

He also claimed that Bradley Manning is being held in a secluded facility in Kuwait which he says is like "a second Guantanamo Bay".

He also accused the US government of doing this to "hide" Mr Manning from effective civil representation.

If convicted Bradley Manning, who is also awaiting court martial, faces a maximum of 52 years in jail.

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The FBI has been called in to help hunt those responsible for leaking tens of thousands of secret documents about the Afghanistan war.

Robert Gates, the US Defense Secretary, warned that sources identified in the documents now risked being "targeted for retribution" by insurgents in Afghanistan.

He pledged a "thorough, aggressive investigation" to identify the leakers and said that steps were being taken to restrict access to classified documents in future.

Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the leakers "might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family".

Bradley Manning, a 22-year old intelligence analyst, is the prime suspect in the leak inquiry. He is currently already in custody in Kuwait after being arrested for allegedly leaking other information earlier this year.

However, he was previously caught boasting that he had leaked tens of thousands of documents on the Afghan war to the Wikileaks website. The Pentagon suspects that Manning may have accomplices within the military.

Earlier this week, Wikileaks published 90,000 documents – mostly reports detailing operations by American and other allied forces in Afghanistan between 2004 and 2009. The website is threatening to publish thousands more documents.

In his first comments on the massive leak, Mr Gates said that "the battlefield consequences of the release of these documents are potentially severe and dangerous for our troops, our allies and Afghan partners, and may well damage our relationships and reputation in that key part of the world." "Intelligence sources and methods, as well as military tactics, techniques and procedures will become known to our adversaries," he added.

The defense secretary promised "a thorough, aggressive investigation to determine how this leak occurred, to identify the person or persons responsible, and to assess the content of the information compromised."

Mr Gates promised to take steps to protect the lives of US service members as well as Afghans possibly exposed by the leaks.

The massive leak jeopardised the trust vital to gathering intelligence in the "field", said Mr Gates, a former CIA director.

"We have considerable repair work to do," he said.

The Taliban last night issued a warning to Afghans whose names might appear on the leaked files as informers for the Nato-led coalition.

In an interview with Channel 4 News, Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said they were studying and investigating the report, adding “If they are US spies, then we know how to punish them.”

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The Taliban has issued a warning to Afghans whose names might appear on the leaked Afghanistan war logs as informers for the Nato-led coalition.

In an interview with Channel 4 News, Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said they were studying and investigating the report, adding “If they are US spies, then we know how to punish them.”

The warning came as the US military's top officer, Admiral Mike Mullen said that Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, may already have blood on his hands following the leak of 92,000 classified documents relating to the war in Afghanistan by his website.

"Mr Assange can say whatever he likes about the greater good he thinks he and his source are doing, but the truth is they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family," he said.

Information from the documents could reveal:

• Names and addresses of Afghans cooperating with Nato forces
• Precise GPS locations of Afghans
• Sources and methods of gathering intelligence

The US government has called in the FBI to help hunt those responsible for leaking tens of thousands of secret documents about the Afghanistan war.

Robert Gates, the US Defense Secretary, warned that sources identified in the documents now risked being "targeted for retribution" by insurgents in Afghanistan.

He pledged a "thorough, aggressive investigation" to identify the leakers and said that steps were being taken to restrict access to classified documents in future.

Bradley Manning, a 22-year old intelligence analyst, is the prime suspect in the leak inquiry. He is currently already in custody in Kuwait after being arrested for allegedly leaking other information earlier this year.

However, he was previously caught boasting that he had leaked tens of thousands of documents on the Afghan war to the Wikileaks website. The Pentagon suspects that Manning may have accomplices within the military.

Earlier this week, Wikileaks published 90,000 documents – mostly reports detailing operations by American and other allied forces in Afghanistan between 2004 and 2009. The website is threatening to publish thousands more documents.

In his first comments on the massive leak, Mr Gates said that "the battlefield consequences of the release of these documents are potentially severe and dangerous for our troops, our allies and Afghan partners, and may well damage our relationships and reputation in that key part of the world." "Intelligence sources and methods, as well as military tactics, techniques and procedures will become known to our adversaries," he added.

The defense secretary promised "a thorough, aggressive investigation to determine how this leak occurred, to identify the person or persons responsible, and to assess the content of the information compromised."

Mr Gates promised to take steps to protect the lives of US service members as well as Afghans possibly exposed by the leaks.

The massive leak jeopardised the trust vital to gathering intelligence in the "field", said Mr Gates, a former CIA director.

"We have considerable repair work to do," he said.

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Osama bin Laden is alive and playing a key role in directing the war in Afghanistan, leaked US military files suggest.

Multiple intelligence reports on the whereabouts of the al-Qaeda leader are contained among the documents.

They disclose publicly for the first time that bin Laden is thought to be personally overseeing the work of suicide bombers and the makers of Taliban roadside bombs which have had a devastating effect on British and US troops.

They undermine rumours bin Laden had died and also appear to contradict comments by Leon Panetta, the CIA director, as recently as last month that there had been no intelligence on the al-Qaeda leader since the “early 2000s”.

A secret “threat report” drafted by the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in 2006 locates bin Laden as well as the Taliban leader Mullah Omar to the Pakistani city of Quetta as well as several villages on the Afghan border.

In 2008, he is reported to have presented an insurgent called Abdullah with an Arab bride as a reward for his work making improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz.

The previous year a newly developed poison, intended to kill coalition troops in Afghanistan, was named after Osama Kapa in recognition of bin Laden’s role in the Afghan war.

Isaf’s August 2006 threat report detailed a high-level meeting was held in Quetta where six suicide bombers had been given orders for a suicide bombing mission to Afghanistan.

“These meetings take place once every month, and there are usually about 20 people present,” the report adds.

“The place for the meeting alternates between Quetta and villages on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“The top four people in these meetings are [Taliban leader] Mullah Omar, Osama bin Laden, Mullah Dadullah and Mullah [Baradar].”

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Mr Obama said the documents, which included snapshots of chaos, suggestions of Afghan corruption, revealed civilian casualties and accused Pakistani agents of co-operating with the Taliban, did not contain much new information.

"While I am concerned about the disclosure of sensitive information from the battlefield that could potentially jeopardise individuals or operations, the fact is these documents don't reveal any issues that haven't already informed our public debate on Afghanistan," the US president said.

"Indeed they point to the same challenges that led me to conduct an extensive review of our policy last fall.

"For seven years, we failed to implement a strategy adequate to the challenge in this region," Mr Obama said, noting the area was the origin of the September 11 attacks in 2001 and other planned extremist actions.

"That's why we have substantially increased our commitment there, insisted upon greater accountability from Afghanistan and Pakistan, developed a new strategy that can work," he said.

"Now we have to see that strategy through."

Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in Baghdad Tuesday that he was "appalled" by the leak.

"There is a real potential threat there to put American lives at risk," he said.

American officials have condemned the weekend release of more than 90,000 secret US military documents on the Afghanistan war by the website WikiLeaks.

The documents paint an unflattering light on the US-led war and include files documenting Afghan civilian deaths and evidence of US-Pakistani distrust.

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William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, said he hoped the relationship between British and Afghan forces would not be "poisoned" by leaked details of civilians and Afghan soldiers killed by British forces since 2006.

The documents published by the Wikileaks website include reports of at least 26 Afghan civilians – including 16 children – killed by British forces, as well as friendly fire incidents which claimed the lives of Afghan security personnel.

Mr Hague would not be drawn on whether the leak could increase the dangers for British troops in Afghanistan, and tried to downplay the documents' significance.

He said: "A good deal of progress has been in terms of building up the capacity of the Afghan state and in Afghanistan working together with so many nations from across the world. So I hope that any such leaks will not poison that atmosphere and I don't think they will."

Blue on White:

Afghan civilians were shot or bombed on at least 21 separate occasions detailed in the files, known as "blue on white" incidents.

While some of the casualties died in air strikes, others were shot deliberately when their vehicles approached checkpoints too quickly or refused to stop.

They include an incident in November 2008 when soldiers from J Company, 42 Commando Royal Marines fired "warning shots" at a vehicle approaching their convoy, which killed a child. A year earlier the son of an Afghan general was killed by a warning shot fired from an unidentified British company.

The documents also include two unusual clusters of British shootings, followed by frustrated comments by the Americans about their inability to get full details of what went wrong.

Between October 4 and November 6, 2007, four shootings by unidentified British units in Kabul killed one Afghan and wounded five others. On one occasion the Americans noted: "Investigation is controlled by the British.

We are not able to get the complete story." A second cluster of eight shootings involved Royal Marine commandos in Helmand between October 2008 and March 2009, and the files also include details of a bombing by a Harrier which killed eight people.

Blue on Blue:

Among the "friendly fire" incidents in which British forces killed Afghan security forces is a catastrophe in Helmand in April 2006, when a British convoy killed an Afghan policeman and wounded 12 others after calling in a US air strike on the Afghan unit, mistaking them for Taliban fighters.

A local district chief eventually drove out to the British convoy waving a white flag, explaining that the local police had opened fire first because they, in turn, had "thought the UK forces were actually Taliban".

The documents detail 20 "blue on blue" incidents, some of which appear not to have been reported at the time.

Green on Green:

There are also accounts of more than 50 "green on green" incidents, involving Afghans attacking Afghans, some of whom were under the influence of opium at the time. Some of the firefights were sparked by accusations of local policemen taking bribes to let suspicious vehicles through checkpoints.

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The whistleblowing website Wikileaks has released a document containing reports from 90,000 incidents in the Afghanistan war. Here's an infographic showing some of the other top scoops released on the site.

        

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The Ministry of Defence was last night braced for the release of further sensitive military documents after a whistle-blower threatened to publish thousands more secret memos on the war in Afghanistan.

Julian Assange, the founder of the Wikileaks website, said the 92,000 items he had released so far had "only scratched the surface" of what he had in his possession, and claimed he had evidence of possible war crimes.

Mr Assange said he had another 15,000 documents which he would release in the coming weeks and which he hoped would result in "prosecutions of those people who have committed abuses".

Mr Assange orchestrated one of the biggest leaks of classified material in history when he gave several newspapers US military documents that contained sensitive details of civilian casualties in Afghanistan and the activities of a secretive "black ops" unit tasked with assassinating Taliban commanders.

Some of the communications described operations carried out by British forces.

William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, said he hoped the disclosure would not "poison" the relationship between British soldiers and their Afghan hosts, while other countries making up the Nato-led Coalition expressed fears that the leak had put lives at risk.

Downing Street and the Ministry of Defence refused to comment on the contents of the leaked documents.

A spokesman for David Cameron said: "We would lament all unauthorised releases of classified material."

Baroness Neville-Jones, the Security minister and a former senior intelligence official, described the leak as "really serious".

She said: "If you stop to think about it for a moment, military systems have to be secure because people's lives are at stake."

The Pentagon has now begun a mole hunt for a suspected network of military personnel who may be behind the leak.

The man who gave the material to Wikileaks is believed to be Bradley Manning, a 22-year-old US army intelligence analyst who was arrested earlier this year, but he is thought to have had accomplices.

Adrian Lamo, a computer hacker who turned him in to the US military, said he did not believe Mr Manning had the "technical expertise" to have communicated so much information to the outside world.

Yesterday, the White House battled to contain the international fallout from the leaks, which it condemned as "irresponsible".

The White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the documents reveal names, operations, logistics and sources and described their release as "alarming".

But Senator John Kerry, chairman of the powerful Senate committee on foreign relations, said the leaks raised "serious questions about the reality of America's policy toward Pakistan and Afghanistan".

"Those policies are at a critical stage and these documents may very well underscore the stakes and make the calibrations needed to get the policy right more urgent," he said "With few signs of progress on the ground, support for the war has been slipping both among the public and in Congress."

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said "We are currently examining our records to establish the facts in the alleged civilian casualty incidents raised. The MOD and ISAF have strict procedures, frequently updated in the light of experience, intended to both minimise the risk of casualties occurring and to investigate any incidents that do happen."

Mr Assange held a press conference in London yesterday at which he claimed the most sensitive documents were still to come.

He said: "It is up to a court to decide clearly whether something is in the end a crime. That said, on the face of it, there does appear to be evidence of war crimes in this material."

He also said he had leaked a video, yet to be published, showing an air strike on the village of Garani in 2009 that killed dozens of civilians.

Professor Michael Clarke, director of the Royal United Services Institute think-tank, said the leaked files were damaging because of their timing.

He said: "They are appearing at the worst possible time, particularly in the United States, because people are looking for an exit strategy. This is old bad news at a new bad time."

The release of the documents came as the Afghan government claimed that 52 civilians, including women and children had died when a Nato rocket struck a village in southern Afghanistan last week.

            

            

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