COMPLETE COVERAGE | FRONT LINES | AMERICA AT HOME | INTERACTIVES »

Pentagon investigates allegations of Afghan detainee beatings

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Pentagon is investigating allegations that Afghan villagers captured in a raid last month north of Kandahar may have been mistreated, and possibly beaten, by U.S. forces, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday.

Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem, however, said that there is no indication so far that the allegations are true.

"In terms of the beatings that had been reported, there is no information that we have heard that that is in fact the case," he said during the Pentagon's daily briefing. But he acknowledged that confusion often surrounds such raids.

CNN.COM SPECIAL REPORT  CNN NewsPass Video  Agencies reportedly got hijack tips in 1998  MORE STORIES Intelligence intercept led to Buffalo suspects Report cites warnings before 9/11  EXTRA INFORMATION Timeline: Who Knew What and When? Interactive: Terror Investigation Terror Warnings System Most wanted terrorists What looks suspicious? In-Depth: America Remembers In-Depth: Terror on Tape In-Depth: How prepared is your city?  RESOURCES On the Scene: Barbara Starr: Al Qaeda hunt expands? On the Scene: Peter Bergen: Getting al Qaeda to talk

"In that initial encounter, you don't know who's good. You don't know who's bad. You don't take the chances," Stufflebeem said. "You just secure the area, so everybody is treated the same. And it's relatively harsh, I would say."

The military announced last week that investigators are probing the circumstances surrounding the January 24 raid in which 15 people were killed and 27 captured.

U.S. officials later released the 27 detainees after concluding they had no ties to the ousted Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

Those captured have told reporters that U.S. forces beat and kicked them.

Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said Monday that there's "no evidence that those sort of beatings took place, but [Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld] and Gen. [Tommy] Franks have asked the land combatant commander to look into it further -- to look into that because we want to make absolutely sure things are being done properly."

Franks is leading the military operation in Afghanistan.

"If anything has been done improperly, then we will address it, and we'll take steps to make sure things are done better going forward," Clarke said.