US attacks Red Cross compound in Kabul

A US missile has hit a compound belonging to the International Red Cross in Kabul, destroying wheat and other humanitarian supplies and injuring a security guard.

A second nearby warehouse, which also housed wheat supplies, is reported to be burning following the attack.

Afghan Red Cross staff tried to salvage some of the humanitarian goods, covering their faces with cloth and rushing into clouds of billowing smoke.

The managed to remove some blankets, medicines and tents before being pushed back by the flames.

Mario Musa, a Red Cross spokesman in Islamabad, Pakistan, confirmed that the compound was hit this afternoon and that one security guard was injured. He said the roof of the compound was clearly marked with the Red Cross symbol.

This is the second time the US has targeted humanitarian sites in Afghanistan as part of its so-called “war on terrorism”.

During the first days of the US-led attacks, four UN workers were killed when an American bomb hit the offices of a group working to remove landmines from the Afghan countryside.