U.S. apologizes

Hutala, Afghanistan

A U.S. military raid went horribly wrong this week and killed nine Afghan children. Two jets fired rockets into a village in southeastern Afghanistan that was believed to be the home of a Taliban member who had killed foreign aid workers. Villagers said the Taliban member had moved away two weeks earlier, and they questioned why rockets were fired into an area where children were playing. Military officials apologized and opened an investigation. The U.S. is currently conducting the biggest military operation in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban. Operation Avalanche involves some 2,000 soldiers in four battalions and aims to root out insurgents in the south.