The United States military today began a criminal investigation into allegations that its soldiers shot dead 15 members of two Iraqi families, including a girl of 3, after the death of a Marine in a roadside bomb.

In its original statement about the incident in November 2005, the Army said that the victims were killed in either the explosion or an ensuing exchange of fire in the town of Haditha, an insurgent stronghold on the Euphrates, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad.

Time magazine this week published an article about the incident asking if it was self-defence or "cold-blooded revenge". The article is accompanied by stills said to be from a videotape taken by a local journalism student. The pictures are said to show the victims' bodies being carried from their homes and in the mortuary.

The US conducted a follow-up investigation after Time presented military officials in Baghdad with Iraqis' accounts of the incident in January. Military investigators interviewed 28 people, including the Marines involved in the incident, the families of the victims and local doctors.

The military inquiry found that the 15 civilians died at the hands of the Marines, not insurgents. Mortuary records showed that the civilians had gunshot wounds and were wearing their nightclothes. The inquiry concluded that the deaths were "collateral damage".

The US announced last week that the matter had now been handed to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service to investigate allegations of misconduct. This will determine whether troops broke the rules of engagement by deliberately targeting civilians.

The AP news agency today reported that it had independently obtained a detailed description of events from residents that is virtually identical to the Time report. It remains unconfirmed by official sources.

Khaled Ahmed Rsayef, whose brother and six other members of his family were killed in the incident, said that a bomb exploded at about 7.15am as an American armoured vehicle passed through the al-Subhani district.

He told AP: "American troops immediately cordoned the area and raided two nearby houses, shooting at everyone inside. It was a massacre in every sense of the word."

Mr Rsayef and Imad Jawad Hamza, a former city council worker, said the first house to be entered was that of Abdul-Hamid Hassan Ali near to the scene of the explosion.

In their account Mr Rsayef and Mr Hamza claim that Ali, 76, died instantly after being shot in the stomach and chest. They said his wife, Khamisa, 66, was shot in the back, and Ali’s son Jahid, 43, was hit in the head and chest. Walid, 37, was burned to death after a grenade was thrown in his room. A third son, 28-year-old Rashid, died after he was shot in the head and chest.

The two men said that Walid’s wife, Asma, 32, was shot in the head, and his son Abdullah, four, was shot in the chest. Walid’s eight-year-old daughter Iman, and his six-year-old son Abdul-Rahman, were wounded, they claim, and taken by American troops to Baghdad for treatment.

Times Recommends

• Peter Moore’s family say they can smile again
• Ambition always comes before a fall
• Putin: Russia needs more weapons to counter US