REPORTER: Sophie McNeill
WOMAN (Translation): This is my brother, those are my martyrs, for what sin did they kill him and riddle his body with bullet holes?
This woman claims she survived on attack last year by Australian soldiers that destroyed her family, killing four children, a teenager and an adult. She says they are buried here.
WOMAN (Translation): Here they are. Oh God, oh my dear brother. God they have made a sieve out of it. Oh God, Haji, come and see what they did to my brother, see what they did to my sweet brother. Oh God, this is his shirt.
One day after the attack on 13th February, 2009, this is what the Australian Defence Force had to say.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL MARK EVANS, HEAD OF JOINT OPERATIONS: During the conduct of this operation there was an exchange of fire between our forces and the Taliban. Tragically, a number of people were killed and wounded during this incident. Current reporting indicates that those killed include a suspected insurgent and sadly local nationals including five children killed and two children and two adults injured.
The Australian Defence Force had also begun investigating the incident. 'Dateline' has spent nearly a year seeking answers from them through meetings with senior defence officials and formal requests for information. But the ADF has hardly been forthcoming, even at the highest level.
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL ANGUS HOUSTON, CHIEF OF DEFENCE FORCE: There was a lot of things that happened that night and we're investigating all aspects of it. Unfortunately, I can't go into the detail of that because I know you and I respect the integrity of the investigative process.
We went to Kabul last October and arranged to meet this man, Mr Zahir Khan. 'Dateline' now has copied of his identification papers. Crucially, defence has since confirmed to 'Dateline' that this is the man they took away that night for interrogation.
DEFENCE DOCUMENT: I have been authorised to formally confirm the authenticity of Zahir Khan.
He says it was his brother, his teenage sister and four your children that were killed that night by Australian soldiers.
ZAHIR KHAN (Translation): My brother was here in this long room. As they attacked some were wounded and some were martyred.
Zahir Khan claims he and his wife were asleep when the Australians broke down their bedroom door at around 2am.
ZAHIR KHAN (Translation): They held the machine guns at me so I could not move, then they came and tired my arms up like this, then they took me out to the veranda - they blindfolded me and blocked my ears and they sat me down.
Khan says it was after the soldiers dragged him out that he heard gunfire and an explosion coming from the next room where his brother's family were sleeping.
ZAHIR KHAN (Translation): No, I did not see them, I was blindfolded - I just heard the shots. After that I was taken out of the house - they started the interrogation - they asked me if my brother was aTalib and I said he was not a Talib, we worked our land.
It was only upon his release from the Australian base that Zahir Khan learnt about the deaths of his six relatives.
ZAHIR KHAN (Translation): Yes, why did they kill my people and cause me so much unjustified grief? Before attacking they should have asked the village and asked the government whether that person was a Talib or not - they should have asked around. Just because someone tells you "He is a Talib." Would you barge into his house at night and kill six people and injure four, for no reason?
This is Zahir Khan's compound in the village of his home, where he said the attack occurred.
ZAHIR KHAN (Translation): This is my room - this is how I chain the door - they kicked it in, see the corner, it is broken. They stood at the door and I sat up, they came in, handcuffed me and took me outside.
TRANSLATOR (Translation): Did they fire any shots here?
ZAHIR KHAN (Translation): No, they didn't.
TRANSLATOR (Translation): I see.
ZAHIR KHAN (Translation): Not in my room. When they came out of my room they fired shots through this window over here - through this window.
TRANSLATOR (Translation): They shot through that?
ZAHIR KHAN (Translation): Yes, from there. My brother and the rest of the martyrs were asleep here.
This is the room where Zahir Khan said where six of his relatives were killed.
JAMAHLA (Translation): This is his home and everything here has been shot full of holes.
Khan's sister, Jamahla, claims she was also there that night.
JAMAHLA (Translation): When they started firing my nephew stood up here, he stood up and said "What is it?" and they shot him. Some were rolling in their blood and some were killed.
ZAHIR KHAN (Translation): See, these are the kids, these two lived and this one was martyred.
JAMAHLA (Translation): Look at this girl, she was injured - look at her wounds. Here, look here, it's here. Fragments of bullets everywhere, there are cuts on this side too - look at them. See, there are small wounds everywhere, here, there.
This woman, Shipiro, is the wife of Zahir Khan's dead brother. She says she was in the room when it came under attack.
SHIPIRO (Translation): My white trousers and my dress were covered with the blood of my children, my oldest son was cut to pieces, my daughter was shot in the head and the chest and she died. We were all asked to sit over here, some were rolling in their blood and the dead bodies were laid out over there.
It remains to be seen how these accounts tally with that of the Australian Defence Force, who claimed they had been fired upon by the Taliban, if and when they provide their version of what happened. The family says this phone video was filmed after the man's body was returned by the Australians. This is the video...
WOMAN (Translation): O dear god, I would die for you, dear brother. For the sake of God, oh for the sake of God, what wrong did we do? Oh my dear brother, I would die for you.
The women and children are apparently seeing it for the first time. One of many unanswered questions is why Australian troops raided this particular compound on that night. The family rejects any suggestion that he was a member of the Taliban.
ZAHIR KHAN (Translation): A Talib will not sleep at home if he is a fighter and if he is, security will watch over him. We had no security and no one watched over us. They took us out of bed and caused us all this misery.
TRANSLATOR (Translation): There were no Taliban here?
ZAHIR KHAN (Translation): No
TRANSLATOR (Translation): Not even in the village?
ZAHIR KHAN (Translation): No, none.
Despite questions from Dateline, defence has never revealed whether they may have raided the wrong compound on that night. But Shapiro claims that immediately after the attack, the Australian troops translator admitted to her that they had made a mistake.
SHIPIRO (Translation): They took the photos, made a phone call and told me it was a mistake. They asked if he was Mullah Norullah and I said he was Amrullah Senior. I asked the interpreter what they said, and he said they made a mistake, they were meant to be in the other house. Instead of the house on the hill, they attacked us. "We made a mistake and attacked the wrong house." They then rushed to the wounded, my daughter and the others...
The ADF has declined to answer whether the Taliban leader Mullah Norullah, was their target that night, but Dateline understands that he was. Three months later, the Australians got their man.
NEWSREEL: Elite Australian troops have claimed another key insurgent scalp in the campaign with the demise of Taliban commander...
Dateline believes in the days following the attack, Australian soldiers gave 10,000 US dollars to a local government official. A payment, apparently, intended to be passed on to this family as compensation for the deaths of their relatives. However, Zahir Khan says they did not receive any of that money.
ZAHIR KHAN (Translation): No apologies were made and no compensation was paid. This is our cemetery and our martyrs are buried there. These are the clothes that were torn into pieces - this is what my dearest sister was wearing. Look at it! She was newly wed. We want them back, our six martyrs. Why did they do that to us? What sin have we committed? None.
This family has many questions for the Australian authorities about what happened on that devastating night.
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL ANGUS HOUSTON: That will come out in the investigation and that is what we are trying to get to the bottom of, is what precisely happened on the night. We had an inquiry and the inquiry looked into these aspects, but there were still some other fact tors that need to be - that needed to be further investigated.
GEORGE NEGUS: That report by Sophie McNeill and our chief producer Geoff Parish, plus a member of Perth's Afghan community that first broadcast that story in full in March this year. By the way, we have received news that Zahir Khan, one of the survivors of the raid, is aware the soldiers have been charged and tells us that Khan is apparently not happy that his dead brother is being referred to as a suspected Taliban insurgent, he maintains that his brother was an innocent civilian. Time and the court-martial, I guess, will tell. You can read more on Dateline's investigation and see the report in full on our website.
Reporter/Camera
SOPHIE MCNEILL
Producer
GEOFF PARISH
Fixer
ALI SAFI
Editor
DAVID POTTS
ENG Camera
TOM FINNIGAN
ENG Sound
Chris Legge
Translations/Subtitling
NASIBA AKRAM
Original Music composed by
VICKI HANSEN
3rd October 2010