Collateral Damage XIII

The US news magazine, Newsweek, tells of a “friendly fire” incident in which the US Air Force bombed Konduz on Sunday, after the city had been taken by the Northern Alliance. The forces of commander Aamer Latif Ibrahimi were hit as they were sleeping for the night in their vehicles, common practice among tank crews in the cold Afghan nights.

These Northern alliance troops were concentrated in the fortress of Kuna Kala, when US aircraft dropped what appears to have been a cluster bomb on the building, judging from eye witness reports of the damage. There are first reports of twenty soldiers missing and five injured, although the final tally could be higher, due to the fact that there were 500 camped inside the fortress.

Other buildings around the fortress were also hit, killing between 60 and 70 civilians, according to sources in Kunduz. Aamer Latif’s officers blame the rival General Doud for ordering the strikes, so that Latif’s forces could be weakened and Doud could capture more of the Taleban military hardware.

In another incident in Mazar-i-Sharif, US aircraft seriously injured 5 US soldiers in a smart bomb attack.

Having already bombed the wrong country (Pakistan), and now not only its own troops but also those of the people it is supposed to be helping, the armed forces of the United States of America should either refrain from determining its weaponry as “precision” or “smart” or pay those who have the intelligence to use such equipment to do the job for them.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.Ru