The U.S. military has completed an investigation into the murders of 24 Iraqi civilians in November last year in Haditha, Iraq, allegedly by American Marines, CNN reported Tuesday.

A naval investigation team has wrapped up its investigation and the case has been handed over to a military prosecution team that will look further into the allegations and see if there is enough evidence to build a case, military officials were quoted as saying.

Once the findings are reached, John Sattler, the commander of Marine forces in the U.S. Central Command region, will determine whether any Marines will be charged, the report said.

Some of the Marines involved in the case are expected to be charged, according to the report.

A separate investigation into the military response to and reporting of the incident concluded last month that senior leaders failed to sufficiently investigate the killings in spite of conflicting information, the report said.

On Nov. 19, 2005, 24 Iraqi civilians were allegedly killed by U.S. troops in the western Iraqi town of Haditha, one of several incidents over the past several months in which U.S. soldiers were accused of killing Iraqi civilians.

On April 26 this year, some U.S. Marines were accused of taking a disabled Iraqi out of his home and killing him in the central Iraqi village of Hamdaniyah, and in March, 11 Iraqi civilians, including five children, were killed during a U.S.-led raid against a suspected al-Qaida site in Ishaqi.

Source: Xinhua