. >> on august 3rd 2014 us and afghan special operations forces deployed to charkh district about sixty miles south of kabul to clear taliban from the area. there's nothing unusual about this. us special operations forces often accompany afghan soldiers on these sorts of missions. i was in afghanistan at the time of the operation. a source called me to tell me that soldiers had beaten a man to death. he also told me it was too dangerous to go to charkh, so i drove as close as i could - to the provincial capital. this is the video i shot just days after the operation. >> at first it seemed like another footnote in the war. but after i returned home to copenhagen, more details began to emerge from my contacts in charkh. then six months later the un came out with its 2014 report citing civilian casualties. i found a short reference to the operation in it. >> the operation resulted in 28 civilian casualties (15 deaths and 13 injured). >> fifteen dead. how could fifteen civilian deaths from a joint us and afghan military operation go by almost unnoticed to the outside world? the report said

but after i returned home to copenhagen, more details began to emerge from my contacts in charkh. then six months later the un came out with its 2014 report citing civilian casualties. i found a short reference to the operation in it. >> the operation resulted in 28 civilian casualties (15 deaths and 13 injured). >> fifteen dead. how could fifteen civilian deaths from a joint us and afghan military operation go by almost unnoticed to the outside world? the report said that the international and afghan security forces denied civilian casualties. i knew i needed to go back to afghanistan if i'd any chance of finding out the truth. in 2009, eight years into the war in afghanistan the united nations started trying to systematically document civilian casualties. 2014 marked the deadliest year on record. i was back in afghanistan to piece together what i could about the fifteen civilians who were killed on august 3rd 2014. i'd been given photographs of some of the people who died. one of those is farid mohammad a driver with four children. his mother had been with him on the morning of

. >> on august 3rd 2014 us and afghan special operations forces deployed to charkh district about sixty miles south of kabul

. >> on august 3rd 2014 us and afghan special operations forces deployed to charkh district about sixty miles south of kabul to clear taliban from the area. there's nothing unusual about this. us special operations forces often accompany afghan soldiers on these sorts of missions. i was in afghanistan at the time of the operation. a source called me to tell me that soldiers had beaten a man to death.

. >> on august 3rd 2014 us and afghan special operations forces deployed to charkh district about sixty miles south of kabul to clear taliban from the area. there's nothing unusual about this. us special operations forces often accompany afghan soldiers on these sorts of missions. i was in afghanistant

. >> on august 3rd 2014 us and afghan special operations forces deployed to charkh district about sixty miles south of kabul to clear taliban from the area. there's nothing unusual about this. us special operations forces often accompany afghan soldiers on these sorts of missions.