http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1621000/1621921.stm
Friday, 26 October, 2001, 16:02 GMT 17:02 UK
US hits Red Cross again

The Red Cross says the buildings were clearly marked
US warplanes have hit Red Cross warehouses in the
Afghan capital Kabul for the second time, destroying
vital stocks of food.

"It has happened again," said Mario Musa, spokesman
for the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC).

"Huge explosions took place and three of our
warehouses are on fire now."

There were no immediate
reports of casualties.

The US admitted
accidentally bombing ICRC
warehouses in Kabul on 16
October, injuring a security
guard, but said that
Taleban vehicles had been
seen in the area.

There was no immediate
response from the
Pentagon on the latest
attack.

Mr Musa told the BBC the
compounds hit on Friday
contained food, blankets
and other material that was to be distributed to
thousands of disabled and needy people in the city.

He said all Red Cross installations were clearly marked
and all parties in the conflict had been told their
locations

Loss of life 'regretted'

He said the bombing took place at 1130 local time on
Friday (0700 GMT) in good visibility.

The French news agency AFP also reported that two girls
- sisters aged six and 11 - were killed when a US bomb
landed on a village on the outskirts of Kabul early on
Friday.

The United States has repeatedly said it is not targeting
civilians and regrets any loss of life.

Officials at a Kabul hospital told AFP a man also died
when a bomb hit a communications centre in the east of
the city on Friday.

Taleban claims refuted

The deaths came a day after the United Nations
confirmed that nine people had been killed when a US
cluster bomb landed near a village in western
Afghanistan on Monday.

The Taleban claim that more than 1,000 civilians have
died nationwide since US air strikes began on 7 October
but the US accuses them of inflating the figures.

Taleban troops are reported by the UN to be moving
into residential areas to make it harder for US
warplanes to strike them without hitting civilians.