ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Reports continued to conflict Saturday on whether a convoy the United States bombed Friday was made up of tribal elders on their way to Kabul for the ceremonies inaugurating a new interim government or Taliban forces who fired at U.S. warplanes.
The number of casualties reported also varied. The Afghan Islamic Press said at least 65 civilians died in the attack, while other reports, such as that by the British Independent, put the number at more than 15.
Another report suggested that rivals of the targets intentionally directed U.S. fire in their direction even though they were not Taliban members.
U.S. Central Command maintained that Taliban were traveling in the convoy and that intelligence reports identifying it as such were confirmed before the bombs were dropped.
In pursuit of Osama bin Laden and Taliban fighters, U.S. warplanes had resumed bombing Khost and Sarkando. Some reports from Afghanistan said civilians who died included known elders of Khost, such as Haji Abdul Rehman, Zawal Wali Murjan, his nephew Shah Khan, Aqif Khan Tani Timoor Shah and others, who were on the way to Hamid Karzai's inauguration as the leader of Afghanistan's interim administration.
The U.S. warplanes had resumed bombing the area after a lull of several weeks. The jets pounded the area for almost two hours.
In the Sarkando area, at least 20 people were killed and dozens were injured during air strikes in Paktia province, which, witnesses said, had fallen victim to a misinformation campaign unleashed by anti-Taliban elements.
"This is criminal on the part of the informers, who misguided the Americans and caused the death of innocent civilians," said Afghan elder Haji Amin Kochi in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar. Some of Amin Kochi's close relatives were also killed in the attack.
He said these tribal leaders had assembled to form a delegation to be sent to Kabul to show support for the new Afghan government led by Karzai. However, the enemies of peace, he said, misinformed U.S. forces and gave the impression that the meeting was a pro-Taliban gathering.
"No presence of Taliban can be proved in Khost and Paktia to justify the bombing. And after all, the victims of the bombing are civilians and not fighters from the Taliban movement or the al Qaida network of Osama bin Laden," Amin Kochi said.
The brother of Amin Kochi, Haji Naeen Kochay, was minister for frontier regions in the Taliban government.
The bombing on Paktia and Khost was believed connected to the pursuit of bin Laden and some local Taliban leaders -- including a Taliban leader, Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqani, who escaped an earlier assassination attempt when U.S. planes bombed his home and the adjacent madrassa (religious school), killing 16 people and injuring dozens of others last month.
The incident did not appear to mar the ceremonies in Kabul where hundreds of tribal chiefs and representatives of the international community applauded the new head of Afghanistan's interim government Saturday. Hamid Karzai was sworn in, thanked a smiling former President Berhanuddin Rabbani and swore to maintain an administration grounded in Islam that respects human rights ignored in five years of Taliban rule.
CNN cameras showed an Interior Ministry building packed with officials, with a section filled with Afghan women in scarves to underline the changes achieved with the banishment of the regime of the Taliban that kept women far from any mechanism of power.
In the audience was Gen. Tommy Franks, the head of U.S. Central Command that coordinates U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
The Taliban Friday announced it has suspended all political activities and fund raising in Pakistan.
