November 28, 2001
A three-day revolt by Taleban prisoners at a fortress in northern Afghanistan has left a scene of carnage, with dozens of dead bodies littering the complex along with shrapnel and shell casings.
Correspondents and officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross were allowed inside the Qala-e-Jhangi fort, near Mazar-e-Sharif, on Wednesday, after the uprising was crushed by the Northern Alliance, backed by US and British special forces.
The US Central Intelligence Agency has confirmed that one of its officers was killed during the uprising - the first American known to have died in the military campaign in Afghanistan.
The dead officer was named as Johnny "Mike" Spann, who worked for the CIA's clandestine Directorate of Operations.
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has called for an urgent inquiry into the bloodshed. About 500 non-Afghan Taleban prisoners had been detained at the fort after surrendering at Kunduz.
Dismembered corpses are now being put on stretchers and carried to a waiting truck, under Red Cross supervision.
The BBC's Catherine Davis says an acrid smell hangs in the air inside the complex, where fires still smoulder after the fighting.
The BBC's Angus Roxburgh, who also visited the fort, says scores of corpses were strewn around, including 40 in one area smaller than a football pitch. Dozens of dead horses also littered the scene, he says.
Many of the buildings where the Taleban prisoners hid are badly damaged, some reduced to rubble. Dead bodies lie inside, amid the debris of splintered wood and shattered plaster.
Alliance fighters said they found two Taleban in a basement and a grenade was thrown in.
Arms looted
Local alliance commander General Rashid Dostum denied allegations that the uprising was triggered by ill-treatment of prisoners.
He said the uprising began when a group of prisoners threw a grenade at a general he had sent to assure them they would be well treated.
The prisoners had then looted an arms depot, he said, adding that three of his best generals were killed in the uprising.
The alliance, which says it lost about 40 of its fighters in the battle, crushed the rebellion on Tuesday after intensive US air strikes.
An alliance spokesman said all those who were still in the fortress on Tuesday had been killed.
Inquiry demand
Amnesty International said there must be an investigation into what triggered the incident, "and into the proportionality of the response by United Front [Northern Alliance], US and UK forces".
The inquiry "should make urgent recommendations to ensure that other instances of surrender and holding of prisoners do not lead to similar disorders and loss of life," it said.
A Northern Alliance spokesman, Abdul Wahid Yasa, told the BBC that the revolt had been started by radical fighters from Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
Iraq condemned what it called the "massacre" by US forces and the Northern Alliance, while some Pakistani clerics called for a day of mourning against what they called a "barbaric act".
US warplanes launched up to 30 air strikes against the Taleban prisoners, who put up stiff resistance.
The Pentagon has confirmed that five US servicemen were injured after a bomb went astray.
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