U.S. still probing Afghan wedding incident

Dozens were injured in the attack, which took place during wedding celebrations

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Pentagon officials said Monday they were unsure whether the crew of a U.S. gunship fired in response to an attack during the July 1 incident in which Afghans say 48 people were killed at a wedding party.

Officials told CNN it was not clear whether the AC-130 was coming under anti-aircraft artillery fire, or whether the crew launched fire because a ground controller directed them to targets previously earmarked.

Pentagon sources said they could confirm that a ground controller saw anti-aircraft artillery fire in the region.

The AC-130 was called in to return fire. But they could not confirm the time elapsed between the two events. It also is not known whether the imagery from the AC-130 shows any indication of anti-aircraft artillery.

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Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz told reporters Monday during a trip to the region that it was clear there were enemy forces in the region at the time of the attack. He also expressed regrets that innocent people were killed.

Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters on July 2 the AC-130 "had been responding also to a forward air controller on the ground who had been directing fires against anti-aircraft weapons that had been firing up at the AC-130."

The strike occurred near Deh Rawod, an area known to be "of enormous sympathy for the Taliban and al Qaeda," a Pentagon official said.

A few days after the attack, a coalition reconnaissance group found a cache that included "15 tons of munitions ... including anti-aircraft weapons" some 10 miles from the scene, the official said.

U.S. investigators also were looking at whether the members of the wedding party might have fired their rifles at the same time or fired the artillery as part of a wedding celebration.

"Small arms -- when you see that type of fire, it looks like little sparkles," Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. John Rosa told a briefing Monday in Washington.

"AAA [anti-aircraft artillery] is a bigger flash. Many times you can see up around the aircraft if they're shooting at your altitude, depending on the size of the caliber. You can see those explosions up by your aircraft. But many cases you don't see it," Rosa said.

The ranking U.S. member of the joint investigation is Brig. Gen. Anthony F. Przybyslawski. He is the former commander of the U.S. Air Force 509th Bomb Wing stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, home to the B-2 "stealth" bomber.