Jan ran to the explosion site and recognized the burning frame of his cousin‘s blue pickup truck. Inside, he said, he saw blackened shapes — people whose torsos had been sheared off. He recognized the smoking remains of his brother, his brother‘s wife and their 18-month-old son. Jan and other villagers say 14 people were killed in the attack; U.S. and Afghan officials place the toll at 11.

„There were pieces of my family all over the road,“ said Jan, recalling the deadly Sept. 7 late afternoon incident in an interview last week. „I picked up those pieces from the road and from the truck and wrapped them in a sheet to bury them.