Human Rights Watch (HRW) has asked the U.S. government to investigate the deaths of 18 Afghan civilians who lost their lives amidst unclear circumstances during an American Special Forces operation in Wardak province last year.

An investigative report released by the U.S. magazine Rolling Stone backed in January initially unearthed details and sparked speculation about the incident, which occurred in Nirkh District. The report suggested that the U.S. Special Forces members were directly responsible for the near 20 non-combatant deaths.

The HWR office in Kabul has since mounted criticisms against the U.S. government for not launching a proper investigation.

"We demand a serious investigations into the incident to identify those responsible, and we demand they be prosecuted," said HRW representative Hither Bar.

HWR's outcry comes at a sensitive time for debate surrounding criminal jurisdiction over U.S. troops in Afghanistan. In negotiations surrounding the still pending Kabul-Washington Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA), which would detail the nature of a U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan after the NATO combat mission ends in 2014, amongst other things, the issue of criminal jurisdiction has been uniquely contentious.

The U.S. Constitution requires troops stationed abroad to remain under American jurisdiction, and U.S. officials have said if their conditions are not agreed to by the Afghan government then the entire BSA could be in jeopardy. Meanwhile, President Hamid Karzai decided to pass the heated issue over to a Loya Jirga expected to be convened this week, likely determining the fate of the security pact.

HRW in Kabul was critical of the U.S. track record of punishing its troops human rights violations in Afghanistan over the past 12 years.

"Sometimes they conduct the investigations in a good manner and try the criminals, but sometimes, they don't do so and avoid investigations," Bar said.

U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales was just sentenced to life in prison last month for his now infamous massacre of 16 Afghan civilians in Kandahar in March of 2012.

Based on statement of the villagers in the area of the Wardak operation, eighteen innocent civilians and a number of interpreters were killed in a military raid conducted by the U.S. Special Forces. Reportedly the soldiers took 10 others local residents with them back to the base and their bodies were later found outside a base in the area.

After the locals called attention to their claims, President Karzai forced U.S. Special Forces to evacuate the area within two weeks.

In July of this year, an Afghan-American interpreter named Zakaria Kandahari was arrested by National Directorate of Security (NDS) personnel in connection to the unlawful detainment and torturing of the residents supposedly abducted during the Special Forces operation.

Zakaria found with equipment and supplies that suggested he had been aided by U.S. forces when he went into hiding.

HRW's criticisms this week cast light on the U.S. failure to publically investigate the Wardak incident, and in turn, could cast doubt on whether there would be any follow-up in future cases if troops were to remain in Afghanistan post-2014. If that potential doubt is enough to put the BSA at risk, is up to the Jirga.