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CNN Live Sunday

U.S.-Led Air Strikes in Afghanistan Cause Civilian Casualties

Aired October 28, 2001 - 17:04   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.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: U.S.-led air strikes continue to hammer away at Taliban military positions. The focus remains on the Afghan capital of Kabul and the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar. The bombing campaign, now in its fourth week, and you are looking at pictures of the aftermath today in Kabul. And we have some rather graphic pictures of children said to be injured during bombing attacks on Kabul.

Two children were said to be among the injured in a Northern Alliance-held village near the front lines. A man and a woman also were killed in the village of Ghani Khail. CNN's Chris Burns has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Marzakan (ph) and his wife Kokogol (ph) fled here from their frontline village with their two children a month ago. Now, Marzakan's (ph) adopted village is burying his wife, victim of a stray bomb from U.S. airstrikes. Their 4-year-old son was wounded and hospitalized.

"They won't leave me alone," says Marzakan (ph), rejecting interviews with international reporters. "I'm never going to shake hands with those people," he added, "they killed my wife."

More harsh words from an imam. "We are inviting the Americans," he says. "They are bombarding Afghanistan, but we condemn this air strike here." Still, he adds it's because of Osama bin Laden that our people are dying.

At the remains of the shattered mud-brick home, bomb fragments litter the rubble. The clock stopped at 4:25 p.m., when the bomb struck.

A neighbor says he was working on his farm when the bomb hit.

"It was very heavy. It shook the ground terribly," says Shamistan (ph). "I couldn't see anything. There was so much smoke and dust."

The family pictures may have survived, but little else remains unscathed here, including the image of the air strikes.

(on camera): Kokogol (ph) was sawing dresses for a wedding party when the bomb hit, the first to strike a Northern Alliance-held village, testing the resolve of Alliance supporters for an extended air campaign.

(voice-over): Mixed with anger and sadness is the will to understand, at least among some villagers, the house's owner for one.

"It was a mistake," says Abdul Metin (ph). "They should not do this. They should know the line between enemies and friends."

The Northern Alliance, which calls itself the United Front, sees the error as one more reason Washington should work more closely with them to target the Taliban.

ABDULLAH ABDULLAH, NORTHERN ALLIANCE MINISTER: We have to coordinate, as I mentioned the other day, that not only these type of mistakes could be prevented but also civilians casualties as a whole.

BURNS: It's not the first time war has struck this village. A Taliban shell destroyed this house -- little consolation for the victims.

And as civilian casualties mount on both sides of the line for the air strikes, the international coalition will face more anger from people like Marzakan (ph).

Chris Burns, CNN, Ghani Khail, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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