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CNN Live Sunday

Young Woman Victim of 'Friendly Fire'

Aired October 28, 2001 - 15:17   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: Among the recent casualties of the U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan was a young woman at a village controlled by the opposition Northern Alliance. As CNN's Chris Burns reports, the friendly fire incident sparked anger by Afghans who, like the United States, are working to oust the Taliban regime.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mersikan (ph) and his wife Kokogol (ph) fled here from their front-line village with their two children a month ago. Now Mersikan's 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 Mersikan, rejecting interviews with international reporters. "I am never going to shake hands with those people," he added. "They killed my wife."

More harsh from an Imam (ph) . "We are inviting the Americans," he says. "They are bombarding Afghanistan, but we condemn this airstrike here." Still, he adds, "it is because of Osama bin Laden that our people are dying."

At the remains of this 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 airstrikes.

(on camera): Kokogol was sewing 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 Mateen (ph). "They should not do this. They should know the lines 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 this type of mistake could be prevented, but also civilian casualties as a whole.

BURNS: It's not the first time war 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 Mersakan.

Chris Burns CNN, Ghani Kale (ph), Afghanistan.

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