A convoy destroyed by US air strikes in eastern Afghanistan had opened fire on US aircraft just before it was bombed, a US diplomatic mission official in Kabul said today.
"We apparently had evidence that this convoy had al Qaeda forces. We circled the convoy", said the official, who declined to be identified. "I'm told by Centcom (Central Command) that we were fired on twice by the convoy using anti-aircraft missiles, which they took as a hostile act and proceeded to attack the convoy", he said.
The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) said US warplanes bombed a convoy of Afghan tribal elders as they were going to Kabul to attend Saturday's swearing in of an interim government, killing 65 people. AIP said locals fed the wrong information to the Pentagon.
"I think we'll take a hard look a it", General Tommy Frank, head of the US war in Afghanistan, told reporters as he arrived for ceremonies to inaugurate the new interim government in Kabul. "It looks like it was a good target at this point", he said.
Residents of the area said supporters of the incoming leader, Hamid Karzai, had come under attack after they left a tribal meeting en route for Kabul and informers apparently told US contacts that they were pro-Taliban.
In Washington, Pentagon officials said US military AC-130 gunships and Navy jet fighters attacked and destroyed a convoy believed to be carrying Taliban leadership, allies of Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network.
The Pentagon said it hit its intended target after receiving intelligence reports.