US special forces mistook a group of Afghan allies for fighters with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network and opened fire, killing three of them, the US army said late Friday. It was the latest friendly fire incident of the nearly eight-month-old war in Afghanistan.
The shooting took place on Friday in the region in the east of the country where US and British troops are hunting for remnants of the Taliban and al-Qaida.
US army spokesman Col. Roger King said late on Friday U.S. special forces accompanied by Afghan military officials were not aware of the presence of Afghan allies in a compound where al-Qaida and Taliban leaders were believed to be meeting.
"Initial review efforts have revealed that the men in the compound were part of another Afghan element from another district in Afghanistan ... allied with the interim authority, at least that's what they purport to be," King said.
Two Afghans wounded in the shooting in Khomar Kalay village near the city of Gardez, capital of Paktia province, were being treated at an allied hospital, he said.
King said there was a report that one of the men in the armed group had shouted they were there to kill al-Qaida, which apparently had been ignored.
He said an investigation of the shooting was underway and steps would be taken to prevent such incidents happening again.
"The review of this action continues and efforts will be made to place coordination measures to prevent similar occurrences in the future," he said.
U.S. forces launched an offensive in Afghanistan in October to flush out bin Laden, leader of al-Qaida network and prime suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, and punish his Taliban protectors.
MISTAKEN SIGNALS
U.S. authorities had said their forces opened fire on a group of armed men because they approached the U.S. troops in a hostile fashion.
King later said a 100-strong special forces team had taken up position around a compound after intelligence reports came in that al-Qaida and Taliban leaders planned to meet there.
"As the U.S. and Afghan military forces neared the compound, they observed several armed men in the compound moving into fighting positions," he said. "They were armed with AK-47s."
He said the special forces did not open fire at that stage.
A few minutes later, a special forces' element saw 10 to 12 additional armed men moving toward them in what appeared to be a flanking maneuver, he said.
One of the men pointed a rocket-propelled grenade at the U.S. forces, which was seen as a hostile act.
"The element commander perceived hostile intent and an imminent threat to his element and ordered his unit to open fire," King said. "The ensuing firefight which last a few moments resulted in the death of three men, wounding two."
Seventeen other people in the compound laid down their weapons.
Afghans in the eastern part of the country have been increasingly critical of the U.S special forces operating there. Earlier this year a U.S. fighter jet bombed a guardhouse outside the airport in the city of Khost, killing one Afghan who turned out to be an ally.
Residents criticized another attack earlier this month, saying U.S. jets fired on them and that coalition ground forces battled with tribesmen involved in a local feud.
U.S. special forces, assisted by Afghan allies, have been searching for al-Qaida and Taliban fighters in the eastern Afghan region near the Pakistani border for months.
The search has become more complicated since the fighters have broken into small groups, often mingling with the local population or moving back and forth across the porous border with Pakistan.
(China Daily June 3, 2002)
