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Reuters. 31 December 2001. U.S. Raid Kills 100 Afghans as British Troops Arrive. QALAYE NIAZI -- U.S. warplanes killed over 100 people in a raid on a village in eastern Afghanistan, residents said Monday, as British troops arrived in the capital to take up peacekeeping duties. At least one fighter jet, a B-52 bomber and two helicopters Sunday morning swooped on the village of Qalaye Niazi, about 2.5 miles north of the city of Gardez, capital of eastern Paktia province, villager Janat Gul told Reuters. Paktia province is where U.S. forces have been carrying out operations against remnants of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network and Taliban fighters still on the run. "There are no al Qaeda or Taliban people here," said Gul, referring to the group blamed for the September 11 attacks in the United States, and the former government which sheltered it. The raid seemed sure to stir up tensions between factions in Afghanistan's interim administration which want the U.S. bombing campaign, under way since October 7, to halt, and those who believe it should continue. There are also tensions within the administration, headed by Hamid Karzai, over the role of foreign forces on Afghan soil. An advance column of about 50 British troops drove into Kabul Monday. The force is eventually expected to number 3,000. Janat Gul said 24 members of his family were killed in the pre-dawn U.S. bombing raid on Qalaye Niazi, and described himself as the sole survivor. "People are very upset about what is going on here," he said. At least 12 houses in Qalaye Niazi were razed. Amid the destruction, a Reuters Television cameraman saw scraps of flesh, pools of blood and clumps of what appeared to be human hair. Huge craters had been blasted out by the strike. A member of the local tribal shura, or council, said they had invited U.S. forces to the village to see the damage and to find out what had happened. In the U.S., Major Pete Mitchell -- a spokesman for U.S. Central Command -- said: "We are aware of the incident and we are currently investigating." Reuters passed several four-wheel drive vehicles containing U.S. forces, accompanied by soldiers of the Northern Alliance which took Kabul in November, at the Tira Pass, apparently en route to the village. They refused to allow photographs or to speak to reporters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
