US jets bomb their Afghan allies' position

US F-16 aircraft yesterday mistakenly bombed two positions of the opposition United Front in the first incidents of "friendly fire" in the war on the Taliban. It was not known whether there were any casualties.

The US has deployed military advisers with the Front, which is also known as the Northern Alliance, and apparently intends to use the Afghan fighters for military intelligence and as foot soldiers to seize cities including Mazar-e-Sharif, Taloqan and possibly Kabul.

Mr Ron Haviv, of the Paris-based Agency VII, was one of four US photographers who witnessed the blunder at close range.

"We were on the Northern Alliance front-line position watching the Americans bombing Taliban positions around Bagram," he explained.

Two US F-16s dropped at least three bombs on the Taliban around 4.20 p.m. At the same time, the Taliban and the Front exchanged artillery fire.

"I was standing next to a mujahed (United Front fighter) with a map in his hand and a walkie-talkie," Mr Haviv said. "He was reading map co-ordinates to the gunner who was behind him." When the first three bombs landed, the mujahed laughed as he listened to Taliban fighters screaming on the radio. "Then the Americans came back," Mr Haviv said.

"I saw two planes and they hit a position behind our position. The Northern Alliance guy said: 'Those are our positions'.

"They asked us for a telephone to call the Americans to tell them they were bombing the wrong side'."

The mujahedin had calmed down when a jet returned and dropped a second bomb. It landed about 200 metres from the mud tower where the photographers were watching with five United Front fighters.

"The mujahedin said: 'Let's get out of here because the Americans think we are a Taliban position'," Mr Haviv said. "You rarely see these guys scared, but when the second bomb exploded they were in the bunker faster than we were."

Taliban and United Front positions are just 2 km apart at Bagram.

The photographers and their mujahedin hosts ran for five minutes through clouds of brown and grey smoke raised by the explosions. The photographers then drove the United Front fighters back to their headquarters in the front-line village of Rabat.