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American Morning

Two American Special Operations Troops Killed in Afghanistan by Friendly Fire

Aired December 05, 2001 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We have breaking news this morning. Two American special operations troops have been killed in Afghanistan and 20 more are wounded in what is reported to be an accidental bombing, so-called friendly fire.

CNN's Bob Franken is standing by at the Pentagon with details on this -- Bob, what went wrong?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was a 2,000 pound JDAM, which is a satellite guided bomb, as you know, that was dropped from a B-52. It was accidentally, it accidentally went off target and killed two U.S. troops. Twenty others, 20 other U.S. troops, according to the central command and Pentagon officials, were injured. In addition, an unknown number of opposition forces, those who are fighting the Taliban that the U.S. troops were accompanying, have been killed or injured. A 2,000 pound bomb that was dropped from a B-52 bomber, a U.S. B-52 bomber.

Now, those who were injured, according to sources, have been taken to that new marine base south of Kandahar. The bombing accident occurred north of Kandahar. The injured have temporarily been taken to former Camp Rhino, which is the marine base which has just recently been constructed where there are 1,300 marines. The disposition of the injured will be determined after that.

This happened, according to Defense sources, this is not information that is in the official announcement, according to Defense sources, those on the ground were getting mortar fire from Taliban positions. So the U.S. forces called in close air support. And among the close air support planes was this B-52, which sent this JDAM which is, it's an acronym. It stands for joint direct attack munition. Again, it means one that is GPS guided, satellite guided. But this time officials are operating on the theory right now that the coordinates were put wrong and it landed in the midst of the opposition forces and killed the two U.S. troops, as I pointed out.

Now, one of the things that I'm told is quite interesting is the use of B-52 bombers for "close air support." They fly at 33,000 feet, but with these JDAMs, these satellite guided bombs, they have been able to do so because of their precision, unless, of course, there is some sort of mistake, like the tragic one that just occurred. And this one, I have to repeat, left two U.S. soldiers killed by a B-52 2,000 pound bomb, 20 other U.S. soldiers injured, Paula, an unknown number of opposition forces the U.S. forces have been accompanying have been killed or injured -- Paula.

ZAHN: Bob Franken, thanks so much for that update. We will come back to you throughout the morning as new details emerge. Appreciate it.

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