In southern Afghanistan, nine children were killed Saturday when U.S. warplanes fired rockets into a group of villagers sitting under a tree. The military claimed they were trying to assassinate a member of the Taliban. Local residents told the BBC, the man Mullah Wazir had left the area 10 days earlier. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan= said the incident was “profoundly saddening” and announced plans for an investigation. The BBC described the target as a low-ranking member of the Taliban who was suspected of overseeing the murders of two foreign contractors. [ More from Today’s Democracy Now!__]