Washington, Afghanistan | Wednesday
A US WARPLANE ‘mistakenly’ dropped a 1 000-pound (453kg) bomb on one or more warehouses used by the International Committee of the Red Cross in Kabul.
”Although details are still being investigated, the ICRC warehouses were among a series of warehouses targeted by US forces because the Taliban used them for storage of military equipment,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
”Military vehicles had been seen in the vicinity of these warehouses. US forces did not know that ICRC was using one or more warehouses,” it said.
”US forces intentionally strike only military and terrorist targets, and regret any innocent casualties,” the statement added.
The Pentagon acknowledged an Afghan security guard had been injured and said ”reports from the ICRC indicate that wheat and other humanitarian supplies stored in the warehouses were destroyed.”
Witnesses said the city was rocked by six large explosions on Wednesday morning as US-led forces resumed daytime bombing of the Afghan capital for a tenth day.
The attacks were concentrated on the southeast of the city in an area that includes a historic walled fort used by the military. A huge cloud of dust could be seen rising up from the area around the fort and the nearby Marajan hill.
US forces have used well over 2 000 bombs and missiles since the air campaign in Afghanistan began, a senior US officer said on Tuesday.
It was the second time in less than a week that the Pentagon had to report one of its bombs had gone astray, causing civilian casualties.
Civilian casualties have fuelled anti-American protests in neighbouring Pakistan and aroused criticism of the US air campaign in the Muslim world.
The United States has been mounting daily bombing runs since October 7 against Taliban installations and bases of Saudi-born Islamic militant Osama bin Ladan, accused by Washington of masterminding the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington that left more than 5 500 dead and missing.
Pentagon officials said more than 100 planes had been used in Tuesday’s raids, marking a record in the air campaign which has also seen a strategic switch this week to low-level flights by powerful AC-130 gunships.
A US defence official said in Washington an AC-130 attacked a Taliban headquarters and troop complex in Kandahar, home of the militia’s supreme leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar.
On the diplomatic front, US Secretary of State Powell opened talks with Indian officials a day after pledging during a visit to Islamabad to reward Pakistan for its cooperation in the anti-terror fight.
Powell, who on Tuesday described the dispute over Kashmir as ”central” to India-Pakistan relations, was to meet various Indian cabinet ministers before seeing Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
Indian officials were expected to raise their concerns about Powell’s comments on Kashmir, where New Delhi accuses Islamabad of supporting Islamic insurgent ”terrorists.”
India, which wants the anti-terror war to include the insurgency in Kashmir, opposes Pakistan’s view that Kashmir is the ”core” issue in their relationship.
Pakistan has long been seeking US or UN mediation in Kashmir.
India opposes any third party intervention on the grounds Kashmir is an integral part of its sovereign territory.
In addition to Kashmir, Powell is also expected to address Indian concerns over Washington’s alliance with Pakistan in the anti-terrorism war.
US officials say Pakistani cooperation is critical because of Islamabad’s proximity to Afghanistan and its ties to the Taliban.
A senior representative for the anti-Taliban opposition, Mohammad Habeel, said on Wednesday, that US forces had bombed Taliban frontline positions north of Kabul for first time.
He said US bombs or missiles targeted the Taliban’s front at Shohi in Nijrab district of Kapisa province about 65 kilometres northeast of Kabul, as well as Taliban positions close to the Bagram air base, held by fighters of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance. – Sapa-AFP