WASHINGTON: The Los Angeles Times said a report on the Haditha massacre concluded that top military commanders failed to follow up on “red flags” that should’ve indicated inaccuracies in early accounts of the deaths.

The report questions why top military leaders in western Iraq failed to further investigate what happened in Iraqi town of Haditha when they learned that 24 Iraqi civilians have been killed in November 2005.

The Marine Corps initially claimed at the time that the civilians were killed in a roadside bomb attack that killed one of their comrades.

But investigators concluded that the marines’ version of events should have drawn attention from commanders.

A section of the executive summary of the report, by Major General Eldon Bargewell, was read to the Los Angeles Times by a defense official who demanded anonymity because the report hasn’t been released publicly.

"Virtually no inquiry at any level of command was conducted into the circumstances surrounding the deaths," Bargewell wrote. "There were, however, a number of red flags and opportunities to do so."

Bargewell leads an investigation to determine whether military personnel tried to cover up the Haditha killings.

A separate probe by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service is expected to determine whether criminal wrongdoing occurred. Commanders at Camp Pendleton, California will decide whether charges should be brought against the marines involved.

The Bargewell report hasn’t been released and it’s being reviewed by Lt Gen Peter Chiarelli, a senior U.S. commander in Iraq. But military officials said it concluded that there were many improprieties.