KABUL, Afghanistan?In the rubble of what had been an unassuming two-story building on Kabul?s outskirts, Mohammed Afzl wept Tuesday for his brother?one of the first four confirmed civilian casualties of the U.S.-led air war against the Taliban and Osama bin Laden.
?My brother is buried under there,? he said, watching bulldozers clear the remains of the offices of a U.N.-funded mine-clearing agency where the victims worked as guards.
The building in a quiet district of vegetable fields on the edge of the capital was less than 400 yards away from anti aircraft batteries and a communication tower struck in U.S. raids Monday night. In Washington, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said it was not clear whether the building was hit by a U.S. missile or by anti-aircraft fire.
?What can we do?? Afzl said, still crying as he recounted how he had begged his brother to spend the night with family instead of guarding the empty building. ?Our lives are ruined.?