Re: A convoy that was hit by deadly U.S. airstrikes

["Ken Hanly" <khanly@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Of course this does not reconcile the accounts at all. There is no mention
of the village that was destroyed aka in the official tale as the "compound"
from which the convoy originated. It does not explain either: the fact that
another convoy was waiting for this one, that the convoy was diverted from
the main road, why Taliban and Al Quaeda membersa were part of a convoy that
also had tribal leaders who claimed to have been going to the inauguration.
I have a folder of all the accounts I have found so far. thanks.This is a
new one at least and has a different slant on things. It sounds like a
face-saver. I wonder how much this guy was paid....
T

Cheers, Ken Hanly
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Pugliese" <debsian@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "pen-l" <pen-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, December 24, 2001 10:39 PM
>Subject: [PEN-L:20913] A convoy that was hit by deadly U.S. airstrikes


> 07:51 ET
> Dow Jones International News
> (Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
>
> KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)--A convoy that was hit by deadly U.S. airstrikes
> included Taliban and al-Qaida members as well as local officials traveling
> to the inauguration of Afghanistan's new interim government, a powerful
> tribal leader said Monday.
>
> If correct, the version of events from Amanullah Zardran would reconcile
> conflicting accounts of the attack Friday by AC-130 gunships and fighter
> jets. The Pentagon has insisted the convoy included enemy leadership,
while
> some local officials claimed it was only a caravan going to Saturday's
> swearing-in ceremonies.
>
> Zardran, a top leader in eastern Paktia province, home to one of the more
> significant al-Qaida bases at Khost, said fellow tribesmen who witnessed
the
> attack briefed him. The base was the target of U.S. Tomahawk missiles in
> 1998 in retaliation for alleged bin Laden involvement in bombings of U.S.
> embassies in East Africa.
>
> About 350 al-Qaida - Chechens, Saudis and other nationalities - remain in
> the area, Zadran said.
>
> He said he had confirmed the U.S. account that the planes came under fire
> from the ground after starting the nighttime attack. At least one Stinger
> shoulder-fired missile was launched along with antiaircraft fire in the
> Zarana area.
>
> The death toll was reported to include four Arab al-Qaida members and 15
> Afghans, Zadran said.
>
> Another Afghan tribal leader who was injured in the attack, Haji Yaqub
Khan,
> denied from his hospital bed Sunday that the convoy fired on the U.S.
> planes. He claimed the attack was unprovoked.
>
> "There were no al-Qaida people or Taliban," said Khan, whose leg was
broken
> in several places. "We have nothing to do with al-Qaida or Taliban. We are
> the supporters of Karzai and former King (Mohammad) Zaher Shah."
>
> Maj. Brad Lowell of the U.S. Central Command said Saturday that American
> officials were certain they had not made a mistake.
>
> "We are sure that was a military convoy ," he told The Associated Press by
> telephone. "The convoy was Taliban leadership. That convoy was destroyed."
>
>
> (END) Dow Jones Newswires 24-12-01
> 1251GMT
>