U.S. strikes accidentally set fire to Red Cross warehouses in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan -- U.S. strikes set Red Cross warehouses afire near Afghanistan's capital Tuesday, sending workers scrambling to salvage desperately needed relief goods during a bombardment that could be heard 30 miles away. \nTo the south, two U.S. special forces gunships entered the air war for the first time, raking the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar with cannon and heavy machine gun fire in a pre-dawn raid. \nHeavy, round-the-clock attacks and the first use of the lumbering, low-flying AC-130 gunships signaled U.S. confidence that 10 days of attacks by cruise missiles and high-flying jets have crippled the air defenses of the Taliban, the Muslim militia that rules most of Afghanistan. \nU.S.-led forces have used more than 2,000 bombs and missiles since opening the attacks Oct. 7, Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Pentagon news conference. The past two days' attacks have been especially intense, putting more than 100 warplanes and five cruise missiles into the air, he said. \nTuesday's strikes were mostly against military installations and airports around Kabul, Kandahar and the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, on which the Afghan opposition claims its forces are closing in. \nAfternoon raids in the Kabul area were so strong that the detonations could be heard 30 miles north of the city, where Taliban forces are battling Afghan fighters for the opposition northern alliance. \nDuring the afternoon raids, at least one bomb exploded in the compound of the International Committee of the Red Cross at Khair Khana near Kabul, injuring one security guard and setting two of the seven buildings on fire. \nAfghan staffers ran through thick smoke and flames to try to salvage blankets, tents and plastic tarps meant to help Afghans through the winter. The other warehouse, which was also damaged by fire, contained wheat, Red Cross workers said. \n"There are huge needs for the civilian population, and definitely it will hamper our operations," Robert Monin, head of the International Red Cross' Afghanistan delegation, said in Islamabad, Pakistan. \nIn Washington, Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said U.S. officials were looking into reports an errant U.S. strike had hit the Red Cross compound. \n"I have no confirmation at this time. As we get some more information, we'll let you know," Clarke told reporters. \nEarlier, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer raised the possibility that anti-aircraft fire from the ground could have been responsible. \nBut the Taliban are not known to have fired surface-to-air missiles in Kabul since the first nights of the air campaign, which began Oct. 7. \nThe damaged Red Cross complex had been clearly marked with two red crosses, Monin said. Likely targets for airstrikes surrounded it, however: four Taliban military bases and transport and fuel depots are in the area. \nIn other developments: \n• Secretary of State Colin Powell visited India and key ally Pakistan. Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said his country will cooperate with U.S.-led military efforts for as long as the operation lasts. Musharraf and Powell agreed a new Afghan government could include some moderate members of the Taliban. \n• Russia's first aid shipment arrived in Afghanistan's opposition-controlled north and the U.N. World Food Program said it expects the Uzbek government to open a vital supply route for aid into Afghanistan. \n• Four American C-17 cargo planes dropped 70,000 packets of food over Afghanistan overnight, bringing the total number of packets containing barley stew, rice, shortbread cookies and peanut butter delivered to 350,000. \nThe damage to the Red Cross buildings was the second incident in which U.S. jets apparently struck offices of an international agency. Last week, four Afghans were killed when a missile went astray and hit the offices of a U.N.-funded mine clearing company. \nTaliban officials said 13 people were killed in attacks Tuesday in Kandahar and two others in Mazar-e-Sharif. In Kabul, residents of the area around the ICRC compound said Taliban soldiers were no longer sleeping in their barracks but had moved into mosques to avoid attacks. \nA U.S. Defense Department official confirmed the overnight attack on Kandahar was led by two AC-130s, a propeller-driven transport plane outfitted with cannon and heavy machine guns. It marked the first acknowledged use of special forces aircraft during the air campaign. \nOne official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the gunships targeted Taliban military barracks and headquarters compounds, and indicated more AC-130 attacks were likely. \nPresident Bush ordered airstrikes on Afghanistan after Taliban leaders repeatedly refused to surrender Osama bin Laden, chief suspect in the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States. \nIn Islamabad, Powell and Musharraf renewed calls for a broad-based, multiethnic government to succeed the Taliban regime, which is dominated by ethnic Pashtuns. \nThe Taliban are battling a coalition of opposition forces in northern Afghanistan made up mostly of ethnic Tajiks and Uzbeks. Pakistan, which had been the Taliban's closest ally, opposes allowing the northern alliance to take power in Kabul because it would not be accepted by Pashtuns. \nDuring a press conference with Powell, Musharraf warned of a "political vacuum" if Kabul falls before a multiethnic administration is ready to take over. \nAid officials in Islamabad reported some looting at relief operations in Afghanistan, including cars and computers stolen from offices in Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif. \n"The law and order situation in Kandahar appears to be breaking down," U.N. spokesman Stephanie Bunker said.