U.S. Airstrike Sparks Afghan Anger

Afghanistan's government on Tuesday condemned the killing of up to 17 civilians in a U.S. airstrike on a house in remote mountains, as a senior U.S. defense official confirmed the deaths of two Navy SEALS who were missing in action in the country's northeast.

The airstrike came Friday in Kunar province, which borders Pakistan, the same area where a U.S. transport helicopter was downed on June 28 in the deadliest single blow to American forces since they ousted the Taliban in 2001.

"The president is extremely saddened and disturbed," said Jawed Ludin, President Hamid Karzai's chief of staff. "There is no way ... the killing of civilians can be justified. ... It's the terrorists we are fighting. It's not our people who should suffer."

A government team is on its way to the site to investigate the bombing, a Defense Ministry statement said.

Kunar provincial Gov. Asadullah Wafa told The Associated Press that an initial airstrike destroyed a house, and as villagers gathered to look at the damage, a U.S. warplane dropped a second bomb on the same target, killing 17 of them, including three women and children.

He said it was unclear who was killed in the initial attack in the tiny village of Chechal. "Maybe some militants were killed, but I don't know," he said. "The 17 people were killed in the second bombing."

The U.S. military said the attack was carried out "with precision-guided munitions that resulted in the deaths of an unknown number of enemy terrorists and noncombatants."
"The targeted compound was a known operating base for terrorist attacks in Kunar province as well as a base for a medium-level terrorist leader," it said. "Battle damage assessment is currently ongoing."

The statement added that U.S. forces "regret the loss of innocent lives and follow stringent rules of engagement specifically to ensure that noncombatants are safeguarded. However, when enemy forces move their families into the locations where they conduct terrorist operations, they put these innocent civilians at risk."

The civilians are the latest victims in an unprecedented spate of violence that has left about 700 people dead and threatened to sabotage three years of progress toward peace. Afghan officials insist the violence will not disrupt landmark legislative elections slated for September.

Meanwhile, two members of the U.S. Navy's elite special forces branch — known as SEALS — who were missing in Kunar province have been found dead, a U.S. official in Washington told CBS News Monday night. Another SEAL was rescued on Saturday and the fate of a fourth was unknown.

The four-man special operations team was searching for al Qaeda fighters in the rugged terrain of Kunar Province last Tuesday when the commandos came under heavy fire. They called for help, but a Chinook helicopter loaded with reinforcements was shot down, killing all 16 troops on board.

The serviceman rescued on Saturday had taken shelter in an Afghan village elder's home in the province before American forces were notified of his location and picked him up, said Wafa, the Kunar governor.

CBS News military analyst Colonel Mitch Mitchell credits brutal special forces training for the commando's survival.
"People have been known to survive out there for weeks if they get a little bit of food and can keep that water coming and aren't really exposed too badly to the elements," Mitchell said.

A purported Taliban spokesman, Mullah Latif Hakimi, claimed last week that militants had captured one team member. He said the "high-ranking American" was caught in the area where the helicopter went down.

Hakimi, who also claimed insurgents shot down the helicopter, often calls news organizations to take responsibility for attacks, and the information frequently proves exaggerated or untrue. His exact tie to the Taliban leadership is unclear.

U.S. officials said they had no evidence indicating any service members had been taken into captivity.

The Navy SEAL rescued from Kunar province was being evaluated Monday, officials said. He was in stable condition and receiving medical treatment at the main U.S. base at Bagram. No other information was released.