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U.S. Admits Errant Bombing of Red Cross
The Pentagon acknowledged that U.S. bombs accidentally hit warehouses in Kabul used by the International Committee of the Red Cross. A Navy F/A-18 Hornet dropped 1,000-pound bombs on the warehouses, the statement said.
A Pentagon statement released Tuesday night said the Red Cross buildings were among a series of warehouses targeted because U.S. forces believed the Taliban was using them to store equipment and military vehicles had been seen nearby. ``U.S. forces did not know that ICRC was using one or more of the warehouses,'' the statement said.
Red Cross officials have protested the bombing and said that the warehouses, holding wheat, blankets and shelter materials, had the organization's symbol painted on their roofs. The Pentagon statement said the U.S. military regrets any innocent casualties and tries hard to strike only military targets.
Earlier, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer raised the possibility that anti-aircraft fire from the ground could have been responsible.
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