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Bomb Hits Red Cross Office in Kabul, Injuring Guard
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.
To 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. Heavy, 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.
During 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.
Afghan 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.
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.
In Washington, Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said U.S. officials were looking into reports an errant U.S. strike had hit the Red Cross compound.
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