US bomb 'wounds' new Afghan leader

War on terrorism

A stray American "smart bomb" killed three American special forces soldiers, injured 19 others and apparently wounded the very man who, just hours later, was appointed to head an interim government in Afghanistan.

The three soldiers were killed by a 2,000lb satellite-guided device that was intended to hit Taliban and al-Qa'ida positions close to the city of Kandahar. But, in addition to killing five anti-Taliban tribal fighters, the munition also lightly injured the Pashtun commander Hamid Karzai, the man now expected to hold together the Afghan factions that will make up the interim administration.

Mr Karzai was later heard on Channel 4 News denying he had been hit, despite confirmation from the Pentagon.

In an agreement described variously as "historic", "remarkable" and "miraculous", four Afghan delegations agreed to set up the interim administration under the auspices of the United Nations to end more than 20 years of war in Afghanistan. Mr Karzai will head the 30-member administration, containing two women, that plans to take office in Kabul on 22 December.

On that date, the new authority will be granted international recognition and inherit the UN seat currently occupied by the pre-Taliban government. As part of the deal, Burhanuddin Rabbani, the former President, who returned to Kabul last month, has agreed to step down.

The accord was seen a diplomatic coup for Germany, which had hosted the talks, and for the UN, which had convened and chaired the sessions. The United States, which kept a low profile, Britain, and France were also praised by Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN chief negotiator and special envoy on Afghan-istan, for their contributions.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced that an investigation had been launched into the "friendly fire" incident in which the three special operatives were killed. President George Bush offered his condolences to the families of the as yet unidentified men. His spokesman said: "The President regrets the loss of life and wishes the injured a full and speedy recovery.'' A Pentagon spokesman, Rear-Admiral John Stufflebeem, said: "This really needs to be investigated to find out why it happened, how it happened and to prevent it happening again."

The incident – at about 05.30 GMT yesterday – is understood to have taken place when American soldiers in a firefight north of Kandahar called in air support from a B-52 bomber. It is understood that the huge "joint direct attack munition", or JDAM bomb, landed less than 350ft from the coalition forces.

Rear-Admiral Stufflebeem said that, for such a large munition, 4,000ft would be considered a safe distance to be away.

It is the latest in a series of misdirected bombs to have embarrassed America in the past week. About 60 Afghan civilians were killed near Jalalabad after missiles struck villages in incidents that the Pentagon initially said did not take place.

The Pentagon said that, while Mr Karzai was understood to have been slightly injured by the blast, he was not badly hurt. What he was doing at the site of the firefight or whether he was leading the Pashtun forces was not known. Why Mr Karzai may have wished to muddy the waters last night, when he claimed he had not been caught up in the incident, was not immediately clear but he may want to distance himself politically from his US sponsors. On a previous occasion when he was rescued by helicopters from Taliban-held territory, his spokesman denied the US rescue took place.

Just hours after the incident, Mr Karzai was appointed as the man to chair his country's new interim administration in a signing ceremony at the same hall overlooking the Rhine, where the 28 delegates had held their first meeting nine days earlier.

The final agreement – the crucial list of appointments to the administration – was reached after a meeting that went through the night. An exhausted-looking Mr Brahimi said the talks had been on the brink of collapse. Through all the hours of discussions, delegates were constantly reminded by UN officials and Western diplomats not only of their historic responsibility to end Afghanistan's national tragedy but of the billions of dollars in foreign aid on offer.

In an eloquent speech, Younis Qanooni, who headed the Northern Alliance delegation and retains his position as Interior Minister in the new administration, said: "This agreement is proof that, if the Afghans know how to fight well, they also know how to make peace." He said that he hoped "Afghanistan's tomorrow will be a tomorrow of national unity, a tomorrow of peace in which the Afghans will build their common home".