Military

DATE=7/1/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=AFGHAN/PENTAGON UPDATE (L ONLY)

NUMBER=2-291628

BYLINE=ALEX BELIDA

DATELINE=PENTAGON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: U-S military officials say they have launched an investigation into a coalition operation in southern Afghanistan that may have caused civilian casualties. More from V-O-A Correspondent Alex Belida at the Pentagon.

TEXT: A statement issued by the U-S military's Central Command says a coalition operation Sunday and Monday in Oruzgan Province, north of Kandahar, may have resulted in civilian casualties.

The statement says U-S Air Force B-52 and A-C-130 aircraft struck several ground targets including anti-aircraft artillery sites that had fired at the American planes.

Beyond saying a team is investigating, the statement gives no further details and it makes no mention of previous Pentagon admissions that a U-S bomb went astray, causing an untold number of civilian casualties.

News reports from Afghanistan claim U-S aircraft struck a village where a wedding celebration was under way and where residents may have been firing weapons into the air in celebration.

These reports suggest there were scores of casualties, with estimates of the number of dead ranging from 40 to around 100.

Pentagon officials make no mention of any wedding celebration.

But one source says a bomb dropped by a B-52 went astray during an attack on a suspected al-Qaida or Taleban cave complex.

Another official says a U-S aircraft came under ground fire, called for air support and one of the aircraft that responded dropped a bomb that missed its target.

There have been several instances of mistaken attacks since U-S and coalition forces moved into Afghanistan last year in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11th on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.

In April, a U-S pilot mistakenly dropped a bomb on Canadian forces conducting a nighttime live-fire exercise. Four Canadian soldiers were killed and eight wounded. (Signed)

NEB/BEL/FC