US planes have inadvertently dropped bombs on Red Cross warehouses in Kabul and a residential area near them, the US Defence Department has said.
For the second time since the US-led bombing of Afghanistan began on October 7th, warplanes struck warehouses used by the International Committee of the Red Cross in Kabul.
The Geneva-based relief agency said the roofs of the buildings were clearly marked with the red cross emblem and the attacks violated international humanitarian law.
Two US Navy F/A-18C Hornet jets each dropped one 2,000-pound bomb on ICRC warehouses on Thursday evening, the statement by US Central Command said.
At about the same time, a 500-pound bomb intended for the warehouses "inadvertently" hit a residential area about 700 feet south of the warehouses, apparently because the bomb's guidance system malfunctioned, Central Command said.
Early yesterday two B-52 bombers also dropped three 2,000-pound bombs on the same warehouse complex, the statement said.
"The US sincerely regrets this inadvertent strike on the ICRC warehouses and the residential area," the statement said.
"Although details are still being investigated, preliminary indications are that the warehouses were struck due to a human error in the targeting process," Central Command said.
Two of the ICRC warehouses were hit on October 16th by US bombs because the Taliban had used them previously for storage of military equipment and military vehicles had been seen in the vicinity, the statement said.