Gość: Egon
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31.12.01, 14:02
BBC NEWS:
news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1735000/1735560.stm
US aircraft are reported to have bombed a village in
eastern Afghanistan, killing more than 100 residents.
Villagers told Reuters news agency that the attack on
Niazi Qalaye in Paktia province, in the early hours of
Sunday morning, involved a B-52 bomber, a fighter plane
and two helicopters.
They said up to 107 people had been killed and at least
10 wounded.
Many houses are reported to have been destroyed.
An official of the local tribal shura, or council, said
US soldiers had been invited to witness the damage
caused by the raid.
There has been no official comment from Washington on
the allegation.
But a Reuters cameraman says he saw American troops
accompanied by Northern Alliance forces heading towards
the village.
Convoy controversy
The US bombing campaign in Afghanistan has continued
despite the collapse of the Taleban regime, as the hunt
for Osama Bin Laden and the remnants of his al-Qaeda
terror group - blamed for the 11 September attacks on
New York and Washington - goes on.
However, if confirmed, the bombing of the village could
prove to be a major embarrassment for the Americans.
Earlier this month, US warplanes attacked a convoy of
vehicles in the same province and killed up to 60 people.
Survivors said the convoy was carrying tribal leaders
to the capital, Kabul, for the swearing in of
Afghanistan's new interim government, but the Americans
maintain it was a legitimate "Taleban or al-Qaeda" target.
New Afghan leader Hamid Karzai has said the Americans
are welcome to continue military operations in his
country until all "terrorist" forces have been defeated.
