Outrage After Afghan Tragedy

Afghan officials fear an American military attack that mistakenly killed nine children playing in a remote village might erode the support of ordinary people for the U.S.-backed government.

"Every innocent who is killed has brothers, uncles, sisters and nephews — and behind them the tribe," said Sadokhan Ambarkhil, deputy governor of Paktika, one of the most dangerous provinces for coalition troops and their Afghan allies.

"If 10 people are killed, how many people are saddened?" he asked on Monday.

Saturday's warplane attack came as coalition forces fight a growing Taliban insurgency across the southern and eastern provinces, and as Kabul, the capital, prepared for this week's loya jirga, or grand council, to debate and approve the country's new constitution.

The attack, aimed at a local Taliban militant accused of targeting aid workers, was also criticized outside of Afghanistan.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was "profoundly saddened" by the children's deaths and called for an investigation. "The fight against terrorism cannot be won at the expense of innocent lives," Fred Eckhard, Annan's spokesman, said in New York.

Seven boys and two girls, the oldest aged 12, died when an A-10 warplane sprayed a dusty field with 30-mm high-explosive rounds in Hutala village, 150 miles southwest of Kabul.

The attack also killed a man that U.S. officials said was Mullah Wazir, a former district Taliban commander suspected of attacking aid groups and workers on the Kabul-Kandahar road — a top U.S.-funded reconstruction project.

But villagers said the dead man was Abdul Hamid, a laborer in his 20s who had returned from Iran just days before his death. The villagers said Mullah Wazir cleared out days before.

Residents and local officials suggested the Americans were fed bogus intelligence — a suspected cause of earlier deadly bombings of civilians — and criticized what they called a careless use of military might.

"I don't know why the U.S. forces did this," said Khial Mohammad, the deputy governor of Ghazni province where the attack took place. "Mullah Wazir wasn't there. He's not a famous commander, but he is famous for smuggling."

Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, a coalition spokesman said Sunday that DNA had been taken from the scene to try to prove the strike had hit its target.

On Monday, at a briefing at the U.S. military headquarters in Bagram, north of Kabul, Hilferty said only that the coalition "was still working on identifying that man."

Aware of the damage such incidents can do to their image, senior U.S. officers flew into the village on Sunday to offer condolences and help.

"Such mistakes could make the Afghan people think ill of the coalition," Hilferty said.

U.S. officials insist they had prepared the attack carefully and were unaware of the children when the order was given to fire.

Officials said funeral services for the 10 victims, already buried locally, were expected to be held Monday.

The Afghan government, meanwhile, was sending a delegation to Ghazni city to discuss further assistance in the hope of softening anger at the foreign troops.

The government, which has little power over insurgents and regional warlords in some parts of Afghanistan, is trying to establish a strong central authority after more than two decades of conflict.

"If they are killing children and innocent people, they will create a big problem for the present government," Mohammad said. "Especially over the presence of coalition forces."