US denies village bombing blunder

1 Jan, 2002 08:38 AM3 mins to read

KABUL - Afghan villagers said yesterday that an American air strike killed more than 100 civilians.

But United States officials said the planes hit a legitimate military target.

A Reuters cameraman in the stricken village, in eastern Paktia province, said he saw huge craters caused by the bombing.

Amid the destruction were scraps of flesh, pools of blood and clumps of what appeared to be human hair. There was also a destroyed ammunition store.

A US military spokesman said the attack by two Air Force B-1B bombers and a B-52 in Qalaye Niazi, 4km north of the provincial capital Gardez, destroyed a compound used by Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda fighters and their Taleban allies.

Two surface-to-air missiles were fired at the bombers during the raid, said Navy Lieutenant-Commander Matthew Klee, a spokesman at the command's Tampa, Florida, headquarters.

"You don't have a village launching surface-to-air missiles at aircraft," he said. "You have a known al Qaeda-Taleban leadership compound."

It is the second time since fighting in Afghanistan has died down that local leaders have accused the US of causing major civilian loss of life in mistaken air raids.

The first raid, 11 days ago, hit a convoy of tribal leaders heading for the capital, Kabul, to take part in the inauguration of the new Afghan interim Government. Witnesses said around 60 civilians were killed.

Afghan tribal leaders yesterday demanded an end to US bombing.

"The attacks must end. The Americans should stop bombing," said Haji Saifullah, head of a tribal council.

Saifullah said 107 people were killed in the latest raid, including women and children.

All were civilians and none was a member of the ousted Taleban or al Qaeda.

Saifullah said the ammunition was seized from Taleban fighters who retreated from the area nearly six weeks ago after US bombing.

He said the village was attacked because of what he called "wrong information" passed to US forces by local rivals.

Meanwhile, the US Central Command said Pakistan had sent 25 more captured bin Laden loyalists for questioning, bringing the number in US custody to 180.

Of the total, 164 suspected al Qaeda and Taleban fighters are being held at a makeshift prison built by US Marines at Kandahar Airport.

Seven are being guarded by troops from the US Army's 10th Mountain Division at Bagram Air Base north of Kabul, and one in the northern town of Mazar-i-Sharif.

The other eight detainees, including American John Walker Lindh, are being held on the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu in the Arabian Sea.

The Pentagon is preparing to bring some al Qaeda and Taleban prisoners to the US Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for further questioning.

In Rome, the United Nations' World Food Programme said it had more than doubled the amount of food aid delivered to Afghanistan last month compared with November.

The UN said it would now focus on people in drought-stricken areas, such as the central highlands and the northeastern province of Badakshan.

The new Afghan Administration and Britain signed a deal to deploy the International Security Assistance Force.

British General John McColl will lead the force, expected to swell to 4500 in the next few weeks. Italy and Spain confirmed yesterday that they would be part of it.

- REUTERS

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