US jets hit Afghan oppn posts by mistake

Terjemahannya

BAGRAM, Afghanistan: US fighter jets on Monday mistakenly fired on Afghan opposition posts during their third raid on Taliban frontlines north of Kabul, witnesses said.

Four photographers were in an opposition post when two F-16s screamed overhead.

They said that they saw at least two bombs land near opposition posts and another bomb hit a Taliban-controlled area near Qalai Nasru, west of Bagram airbase and situated some 45 km north of Kabul.

The opposition soldiers accompanying the photographers fled their positions after the strikes. "They asked us if we had a telephone to call the Americans and tell them they were making a mistake," said Ron Haviv, a US national working for the Paris-based Agency VII.

The other photographers who witnessed the strike close up were Peter Blakely, a US national working for the Saba agency, Tyler Hicks, a US national with the New York Times and Moises Saman, a Spanish national working for Newsday.

They said that they were around 75 metres from where one of the bombs hit a Northern Alliance-controlled area.

A local commander, Sayed Mir Shah, said "maybe they have made a mistake," adding "we received two bombs on our side, the others were on the Taliban (side)." He said that there were no casualties among the opposition troops.

Two jets circled several times over the frontlines, and were seen dropping at least three bombs at around 4:20 pm (11:50 GMT), as Taliban fighters responded with anti-aircraft fire.

The bombs struck Taliban positions near a main junction situated on one of the two parallel roads that lead north of Kabul.

Residents here in opposition controlled areas stopped to stare into the air and watch the jets, as Taliban gunners responded with anti-aircraft fire.

The first attack on the Taliban's frontline positions defending the Afghan capital was late on October 16 and in the early hours of October 17. The second raid was on Sunday.

The Taliban have concentrated thousands of troops north of Kabul, and witnesses have reported seeing convoys of additional militiamen travelling to the lines to evade US-led strikes on Kabul.

General Baba Jan, opposition commander at the Bagram airbase, said that the strikes had yet to have any major effect on the Taliban line.

"America thinks that a few days of bombing will defeat the Taliban. We have been fighting for 23 years and we have yet to bring peace to Afghanistan," he said.

Around the same time as the first strikes on the Taliban's frontline on Monday, a single plane flew over Kabul but dropped no bombs and the Taliban guns on the ground also remained quiet, witnesses said.

Another plane was heard overhead around 6:00 pm and this time the militia opened fire with anti-aircraft guns but there was no sound of bombing.

The unidentified planes were the only scares reported on an otherwise quiet day for the war weary residents of the Afghan capital.

There have been almost daily raids and sightings of US planes or helicopters in and around Kabul since US-led forces started air strikes against the Taliban on October 7. ( AFP )


Jet AS  hentam kubu  anti-Taliban

Bagram, Afghanistan:  Pejuang jet  AS  pada  Isnin lalu  telah tersilap mengbom  kubu puak anti-Taliban di bahagian utara  Kabul.

Empat orang juru gambar   berada  di kubu  pihak anti-Taliban  ketika  pesawat F-16  tiba di ruang  angkasa  di atas  kepala.  Mereka  berkata  sekurang-kurangnya  dua buah bom jatuh di kubu  berdekatan  dan sebuah lagi  jatuh di kawasan  yang dikuasai oleh Taliban berdekatan Qalai Nasru,  di bahagian barat landasan terbang Bagram  kira-kira 45 km daripada Kabul.

Askar Afghan yang mengiringi  juru gambar itu lari bertempiaran. “Mereka meminta  sama ada kami  membawa telefon kerana  mahu  menelefon  pihak Amerika menyatakan kesilapan itu,” demikian kata  Ron Haviv, seorang rakyat Amerika  yang  bertugas dengan syarikat Agensi VII  yang  berpusat di Paris.

Beberapa  juru gambar  lain yang menyaksikan  kesilapan AS itu menyatakan mereka berada hanya 75 meter daripada  tempat  bom itu digugurkan.

Pihak Taliban telah menghantar ribuan askarnya  di utara Kabul dan  para saksi telah melaporkan  betapa mereka melihat  beberapa  konvoi  askar  tambahan yang tiba sambil mengelakkan dikesan oleh AS.

Jeneral  Baba Jan, komander pasukan anti-Taliban  di Bagram menyatakan bahawa serangan udara itu belum lagi menjejaskan   benteng pertahanan Taliban.

“Amerika fikir dengan  mengbom beberapa  hari, mereka boleh kalahkan  Taliban. Kami telah berperang  selama  23 tahun  dan masih belum mencapai keamanan di Afghanistan,”katanya.

Pada awal pagi Isnin itu  sebuah pesawat telah  muncul di udara Kabul tanpa menggugurkan sebarang  bom. Taliban pun tidak menembak pesawat  itu. Tetapi pada  6.00 p.m. tetapi Taliban  menembaknya walaupun pesawat tidak  menggugurkan bomnya.

Pesawat yang tidak dikenali itu merupakan  ancaman yang muncul di  ibu negara Afghanistan pada hari itu. Kalau tidak, ada  sahaja  serangan udara  daripada  jet pejuang ataupun helikopter  Amerika  itu sejak Oktober 7.

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