The Pentagon acknowledged the destruction of one or more warehouses controlled by the International Committee of the Red Cross outside of Kabul, Afghanistan on Tuesday.
“Bombs from a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet inadvertently struck one or more warehouses used by the International Committee of the Red Cross in northern Kabul, Afghanistan,” the Defense Department said in a released statement. “Reports from the ICRC indicate that wheat and other humanitarian supplies stored in the warehouses were destroyed, and an Afghan security guard was injured.”
The ICRC has confirmed that one employee was injured, but was transported to a local hospital and is in stable condition.
The ICRC says that the warehouses, located two kilometers away from Kabul’s airport, are well marked with red crosses.
“Like all other ICRC facilities in the country, it is clearly distinguishable from the air by the large red cross painted against a white background on the roof of each building,” the ICRC said in a released statement. “One of the five buildings in the compound suffered a direct hit. It contained blankets, tarpaulins and plastic sheeting and is reported to be completely destroyed. A second building, containing food supplies, caught fire and was partially destroyed before the fire was brought under control.”
The U.S. government claim that they “did not know” the Red Cross utilized the buildings.
“The ICRC warehouses were among a series of warehouses targeted by U.S. forces because the Taliban used them for storage of military equipment,” the Pentagon said in a released statement. “Military vehicles had been seen in the vicinity of these warehouses. U.S. forces did not know that ICRC was using one or more of the warehouses.”
The Pentagon says it is still investigating the incident.
The announcement comes on the heels of Saturday’s report that a U.S. Navy strike plane missed its target and dropped a 2000-pound smart bomb on a residential area outside of Kabul on Friday, Oct. 12.
“A U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet missed its intended target and inadvertently dropped a 2000-pound GPS-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) in a residential area near Kabul Airport, Afghanistan,” the Pentagon said in a released statement. “The intended target was a military helicopter at Kabul Airport, approximately one mile from the residential area.”
The JDAM is actually a kit, produced by the Boeing Company, which converts conventional bombs into guided weapons. The 2000-pound weapon dropped on the residential area is the largest JDAM that Boeing makes.
The Pentagon is still trying to determine the extent of the damage, and the cause of the accident.
“We have no accurate way of estimating the number of casualties, but reports from the ground indicate there may have been four deaths and eight injured,” the Defense Department said in a released statement. “Although details are being investigated and may take several days, preliminary indications are that the accident occurred from a targeting process error.”
At Monday’s Pentagon briefing, Air Force General Richard B. Meyers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called the incident “unfortunate.”
“We had an unfortunate case where we missed the target near the Kabul airfield,” Meyers told reporters. “Our planners, in fact, do everything they can to avoid such mishaps, but sometimes these things, unfortunately, happen. Operations continue.”
The Department of Defense “regret any innocent casualties.”
“We care a great deal about civilian casualties. We have to. Think of the thousands of innocent Americans that were killed by the terrorists,” Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said in an interview with Al Jezeera, a Qatar based news television station, on Tuesday. “What we have done is to exercise great care. But the reality is when there’s that much ammunition and ordnance and munitions flying around in a country, there will inevitably be some unintended casualties.”
On the Net: The Department of Defense: http://www.defenselink.mil The ICRC: http://www.icrc.org
The Boeing Company: http://www.boeing.com
