US Aircraft Strike Prison Building Held By Rebellious Foreign Fighters

US aircraft have been delivering air strikes at foreign mercenaries holding the prison building near Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, reported Al-Jazeera TV station of Qatar. According to the station, the US aviation, including AC-130 fire support aircraft, has bombed and shelled an ancient fortress, transformed into a prison, 10 km west of Mazar-e-Sharif. Witnesses have pointed out to a powerful explosion in the fortress, apparently caused by hitting a depot of arms and ammunition. Some 800 foreign mercenaries captured by the Northern Alliance troops went on strike on Sunday morning, disarmed and murdered sentinels, and seized an arms storage. The fight between the mercenaries and the Northern Alliance left some 600 foreign mercenaries, 40 soldiers of the anti-Taleban Alliance and one American dead, reported the staff of a Northern Alliance commander, Uzbek national General Dostum. Some rebels are hiding in the basement of the fortress, several dozen POWs have fled. Five American commandos were wounded when a bomb hit a tank, a CIA contracted serviceman was heavily injured. British servicemen also came under fire and sustained serious wounds. Leaders of fundamentalist groups abroad have stated that the rebellion was deliberately prompted by the Northern Alliance forces in a bid to destroy foreign mercenaries.