Two U.S. troops were killed and 20 injured today along with an unknown number of anti-Taliban forces in a mistaken B-52 bombing north of Kandahar, Afghanistan. According to the U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Florida, a B-52 bomber, flying in support of opposition forces, “dropped its ordnance in close proximity to friendly forces.”

A U.S. official said the incident involved precision-guided weapons. Meanwhile, thousands of Afghans are abandoningtheir homes in the eastern part of the country to escape U.S. air strikes on civilian villages that have killedhundreds of people.

For the fourth consecutive night, American warplanes targeting a suspected al-Qa’ida hideout in Tora Bora also bombednearby villages. Despite repeated denials from the Pentagon, local officials and witnesses have reported that morethan 150 civilians have died as a result of those bombings alone.

It has been extremely difficult to get information from inside Afghanistan, as large sections of the country arestill overtaken by fighting. We’re joined right now by Scott Peterson of the Christian Science Monitor, whohas just returned from Moscow after two months in Kabul.

Guest:

• Scott Peterson, Moscow Bureau Chief of the Christian Science Monitor who just returned to Moscowfrom several weeks in Kabul.

Related link:

• Christian Science Monitor