United States fighter jets on Monday mistakenly fired on opposition posts during their third raid on Taliban front lines north of the Afghan capital Kabul, AFP quoted witnesses as saying.
Four photographers were in an opposition post when two F-16's screamed overhead.
They said they saw at least two bombs land near opposition posts and another bomb hit a Taliban-controlled area near Qalai Nasru, west of Bagram airbase and situated some 45 kilometers (28 miles) north of Kabul.
The opposition soldiers accompanying the photographers fled their positions after the strikes.
"They asked us if we had a telephone to call the Americans and tell them they were making a mistake," said Ron Haviv, a US national working for the Paris-based Agency VII.
The other photographers who witnessed the strike close up were Peter Blakely, a US national working for the Saba agency, Tyler Hicks, a US national with the New York Times and Moises Saman, a Spanish national working for Newsday.
They said they were around 75 meters (250 feet) from where one of the bombs hit a Northern Alliance-controlled area.
A local commander, Sayed Mir Shah, said "maybe they have made a mistake," adding: "we received two bombs on our side, the others were on the Taliban (side)."
However, the CNN correspondent in the area told Al Jazeera satellite channel that he could not confirm the report.
AFP said there were no casualties among the opposition troops.
Meanwhile, Kabul and Kandahar have so far enjoyed some calm, with warplanes targeting Taliban front lines, where the ruling militia deployed 8,000 fighters and heavy military equipment to deter the North Alliance forces, amid reports of progress on the Taliban's part.
Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar issued a statement to raise the morale of his people and extend condolences to the families of the bombing victims, said the station.
Meanwhile, the Taliban gave contradictory reports on the US losses during a commando raid, according to Al Jazeera correspondents.
They confirmed that one helicopter was shot down, and said that traces of another were found, along with blood stains. The Taliban, who have lost communication between their positions, said they supposed that the US forces were able to carry off the wrecked chopper and the crew.
They said a third helicopter was downed, but no independent source confirmed that.
In Washington, US officials on Sunday dismissed Taliban claims that 20 to 25 US servicemen were killed in the downing of a helicopter.
Meanwhile, the Taliban claimed that the US was using chemical and biological weapons in its war to "smoke out" suspected terrorists who allegedly planned the airborne suicide attacks on Washington and New York last month.
But the US denied the report, as well as another that a hospital in Herat was bombed and many patients were killed - Albawaba.com
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