Pilot thought he was taking ground fire, general says

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. warplane that may have been responsible for dozens of civilian casualties in southern Afghanistan opened fire because its crew believed they were taking fire from anti-aircraft weapons, a senior American general said Tuesday.

Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said many facts about the episode have yet to be learned, including how many people were killed. At the White House, press secretary Ari Fleischer expressed President Bush's "deep condolences for the loss of innocent life no matter what the cause is determined to be."

"We do not yet know what exactly happened and we are working very hard to find out," Fleischer said.

Pace said an Air Force B-52 bomber, which launched seven satellite-guided bombs at suspected al-Qaida and Taliban cave and bunker complexes in the same area, apparently played no role in the civilian casualties. One of the seven bombs malfunctioned, but it landed in an uninhabited area, Pace said.

That left at least two possible sources of the fire that struck civilians: an Air Force AC-130 gunship or the anti-aircraft artillery, which could have fallen back to the ground and struck civilians. Of the two, officials said the more likely source was the AC-130.

The plane is an Air Force special operations aircraft outfitted with side-firing cannons and 105mm howitzers. It is sort of a flying artillery battery, and it has been used extensively throughout the war. Pace said the AC-130 returned fire on six sites spread over several miles. He did not say whether all six were believed to be anti-aircraft artillery sites or exactly where any were.

Afghans said 40 civilians were killed and 100 were wounded, including women and children celebrating a wedding. Some think the celebratory gunfire at the wedding may have been mistaken for hostile fire, but U.S. officials said they had no evidence to support that theory.