Family of Afghan civilians killed in firefight denied compo Tarin Kowt: Mr Khan and Hekmat were found shot 20 kilometres from the Uruzgan capital. Defence chiefs have rejected an official recommendation to compensate relatives of a young religious minister found dead with his fatally wounded toddler nephew after a shoot-out between Taliban and Australian special forces in Afghanistan. The rejection of inquiry officer Colonel Mike Goodyer's recommendation came despite him finding Australian special forces had used poor analysis and "flawed" procedures to classify the 24-year-old mullah as having insurgency connections. He also found the flawed procedures had potentially frustrated a compensation claim and undermined counter-insurgency initiatives. The situation has angered the Afghan relatives of the dead man Lal Awar Khan and his 23-month-old nephew Hekmat Ullah, who was found fatally wounded under his uncle's body. The family has maintained Mr Khan was killed when he was returning from taking his nephew to the doctor and came under fire from a partnered patrol of Australian special forces and Afghan security officers on March 27, 2011. Mr Khan and Hekmat were found shot near Shah Zafar village, about 20 kilometres north of the Uruzgan capital Tarin Kowt. Hekmat died later in hospital. Despite locals saying Mr Khan was not Taliban, Australian special forces branded him an insurgent based on the results of testing on his corpse that suggested contact with explosives. After the killings, the Defence Department announced an official inquiry to be held by Colonel Goodyer, who previously investigated the killing of five children and an armed man during a controversial Australian commando raid in 2009. His report, completed in 2011 but only released by Defence last month, was heavily censored but was scathing of the process, including the testing used to brand Mr Khan as an insurgent. His report confirmed Australian and Afghan forces had opened fire on a vegetated area near a creek bank about 350 to 400 metres away after coming under fire from what they suspected were armed insurgents. It said that, after assaulting the area, they found Mr Khan dead and Hekmat under him. Scattered near them was pain-killing medication and antibiotics. Mr Khan was tested for exposure to potential explosives and recorded a positive result, but the report found the testing unreliable. The report found the process used to classify Mr Khan as an insurgent was "flawed" with Mr Khan most likely a civilian using his body to shelter his nephew. It also found inadequate consideration was given to Mr Khan's proximity to the child and that no subsequent investigations were undertaken to determine Mr Khan's identity or his relationship to the child. Colonel Goodyer wrote that such "flawed process" had the potential to frustrate legitimate claims for compensation and undermine counter-insurgency initiatives. While Colonel Goodyer noted it was impossible to tell who shot the pair, he recommended Australian Special Operations Task Group should make contact with Mr Khan's and Hekmat's family to tell them of their right to make a claim for compensation. But when Defence released the report, Chief of Joint Operations Lieutenant General Ash Power said the recommendation for compensation had not been accepted. He said the inquiry was not able to determine who killed the pair and that "to make an offer under the tactical payment scheme was not warranted." He also said the issue of payment had been raised with the family in relation to the dead child and no claims had been received. Last week Mr Khan's and Hekmat's relatives told Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission representatives in Uruzgan that no one had alerted them about compensation. A representative of the AIHRC said the family was angry they had not been told of the report. He acknowledged at the time of the shooting the family said they did not want compensation as they feared being targeted by the Taliban or coalition forces.