Three U.S. Troops Killed by Stray Bomb

Dec. 5, 2001 -- Three U.S. special forces soldiers were killed and 19 others injured in southern Afghanistan today in an errant B-52 bombing raid, Pentagon officials said.

Five Afghan anti-Taliban fighters were also killed and around 20 Afghan troops were wounded in the accident when the U.S. B-52 dropped a 2,000-pound satellite-guided bomb, or JDAM, about 100 yards from friendly forces north of Kandahar, the last Taliban stronghold.

Among the injured was Hamid Karzai, the ethnic Pashtun leader who was just nominated today as the head of Afghanistan's transitional government after a nine-day conference in Germany.

Sources say his injuries were slight, and he seemed eager to put the whole incident behind him. In a satellite phone interview with ABCNEWS, Karzai said: "There were some casualties. It was unfortunate, but things like that happen. And now everything is OK."

The killed Americans were identified as Master Sgt. Jefferson Donald Davis, 39, of Tennessee; Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Henry Petithory, 32, of Cheshire, Mass.; and Staff Sgt. Brian Cody Prosser, 28, of California. All three soldiers served in the 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, based in Fort Campbell, Ky.

Four of the injured Americans were in a critical condition, said Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke.

Two of the injured U.S. soldiers are remaining in Afghanistan and will be returned to duty. The other 17 have been evacuated to other locations, with some of the most seriously wounded going to a hospital in the Persian Gulf nation of Oman. They may be later moved to Germany. Ten of the Afghan wounded are being treated on two U.S. Navy ships, the Bataan and the Pelileu, officials told ABCNEWS.

The bodies were being kept in a makeshift morgue at Camp Rhino, the U.S. Marine operating base southwest of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan.

The bomb apparently went astray at about 12:20 a.m. ET, when it was called in by the troops on the ground as they were under attack from Taliban artillery.

Sources say they suspect human error is to blame for the friendly fire. The wrong coordinates may have been radioed to the B-52 from the ground or wrong numbers may have been entered into the bomb's guidance system. There is also the possibility the guidance system itself simply failed, though the JDAMs have been among the most reliable weapons in the current campaign.

An investigation into the incident is under way.

Bush Offers Condolences

In Washington today, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer expressed President Bush's condolences to the families of the U.S. soldiers. "He regrets the loss of life and wishes the injured a full and speedy recovery," said Fleischer.

Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem also conveyed the Joint Chiefs of Staff's sympathy for the families of the victims at today's Pentagon briefing. "These men died as heroes and were wounded as heroes," he said.

Hours after the incident, the area around Kandahar was a scene of utter devastation. Taliban officials said a number of civilians were killed in the attack, but there was no independent confirmation of the reports.

Today's friendly-fire incident raised the total number of U.S. fatalities inside Afghanistan to four since the military operation began on Oct. 7. CIA agent Johnny "Mike" Spann was killed last week in a prisoner uprising in northern Afghanistan while questioning forces captured in the fighting.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon confirmed that a U.S. special forces soldier was shot in the shoulder near Kandahar. The injury was not considered life-threatening, but was serious enough for the soldier to be evacuated from Afghanistan.

Today's incident came as senior U.S. officials have noted that the American military operation in Afghanistan this week has reached its most dangerous phase as U.S. and anti-Taliban troops attempt to close in on senior Taliban and al Qaeda leaders.

The warning was underscored by today's deaths. "This is real," said Marine Maj. James R. Parrington, executive officer of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit's Battalion Landing team. "We're not playing around and there are people out here that want to do us serious ill ... an event like this drives it home."

U.S. special forces on the ground near Kandahar have been providing support for anti-Taliban troops attempting to capture the Taliban's spiritual capital and last stronghold.

Landmark Deal in Bonn

In Germany, a landmark deal was reached today after days of grueling talks among four rival Afghan factions at a hilltop hotel near the city of Bonn.

In an attempt to end more than 20 years of civil war in Afghanistan, delegates of the four factions signed an agreement on the choice of an interim government to be led by Karzai.

Under the agreement, the new transitional administration, which includes two women, will take office on Dec. 22.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder attended the emotional signing ceremony at the St. Petersburg hotel, while jubilant delegates, many of whom had been at loggerheads before the talks began, applauded and embraced each other.

Welcoming the agreement, U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who hosted the talks, said, "Nowhere is the feeling of hope greater than among the people of Afghanistan, who during 23 years of tragedy and loss have maintained the hope that peace and stability could be restored one day in their country."

Speaking to ABCNEWS by satellite phone from southern Afghanistan, where he is conducting military operations, Karzai expressed gratitude and honor at being selected leader of the Afghan interim administration. "I am glad that my Afghan countrymen put their trust in me and I am honored that they trust me for this job," he said.

The agreement also established a 30-member interim Cabinet, which will be in office until a broad-based government representing the range of Afghanistan's ethnic groups and regions is established following the convening of a loya jirga or tribal council in Afghanistan in March 2002.

Bush: Bin Laden Noose Tightening

But even as Afghan delegates agreed in principle on the future for Afghanistan, fighting has been heavy near Kandahar and the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, where terror mastermind Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding.

In his first television interview since the Sept. 11 terror attacks on America, President Bush told ABCNEWS' Barbara Walters that the "noose" around bin Laden was "tightening."

"We're making progress. We're making it harder for him to find sanctuary. We are closing down caves, we are getting more and more of the territories under control of our friends and allies, and therefore, we have a better chance of spotting him in person," said Bush in the ABCNEWS exclusive interview airing tonight on 20/20.

Anti-Taliban fighters in eastern Aghanistan were continuing their advance on a cave complex near the village of Tora Bora in eastern Afghanistan, which has become the focus of the U.S. hunt for bin Laden, the prime suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks.

U.S. warplanes have been conducting heavy bombing raids in the area and a senior anti-Taliban commander, Hazrat Ali, told Reuters that his troops had taken control of areas around Tora Bora. "We have taken some areas which they [bin Laden's men] left around Tora Bora," he told the news service by satellite phone fromJalalabad. "They pulled out from these areas without a fight."

Responding to reports that anti-Taliban fighters had moved into some of the caves in the Tora Bora complex, Stufflebeem said the Pentagon was aware of the reports but could not confirm them.

Reports of Civilian Casualties

In other developments:

Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) reported today that it and other relief organizations have transported more than 80 dead and 50 wounded civilians from the area around Tora Bora to hospitals in Jalalabad as a result of the U.S. bombing campaign. The bombing has also ignited forest fires in the region that still burn out of control. The aid organization said it is pulling out of Jalalabad because of security conditions, leaving the Afghan staff to handle ambulance services.

ABCNEWS' Bob Woodruff in Afghanistan, JohnYang in Germany, John McWethyand Barbara Starr in Washington and David Wright with pool reporters in southern Afghanistan contributed to this report.