Soviets Reportedly Bomb Post by Mistake, Kill 100

Soviet air force pilots accidentally bombed an Afghan military post they mistook for a rebel encampment, killing about 100 soldiers two weeks ago, a Western diplomat said Tuesday.

It was not the first reported accidental bombing by the Soviets, who maintain about 115,000 troops in Afghanistan to bolster Afghan troops against Muslim rebels trying to oust Kabul’s Communist government.

The Westerner and another diplomat, who spoke in separate briefings on condition they not be identified, also said that Muslim guerrillas inflicted a “severe defeat” on attacking Soviet forces in eastern Nangarhar province on the border with Pakistan last month, killing 50 soldiers and capturing 22.

Quoting “a reliable diplomatic source” in Kabul, the Western diplomat said the Soviet bombing of Afghan troops occurred on April 20, the pilots believing the government post to be a guerrilla base.

‘14 Vehicles Destroyed’

“About 100 soldiers were killed and 14 vehicles destroyed in the attack,” he said.

Kabul has made no mention of a bombing mistake in April or of an earlier report from Afghan refugee sources in Pakistan who claim that Soviet warplanes bombed the southern city of Kandahar in early December, killing 67 people including eight Soviet soldiers. Witnesses said Afghan authorities told residents over loudspeakers that the attack was an error and that the planes had overshot their targets of nearby rebel strongholds.

Soviets Routed

Both diplomats said that Muslim rebels killed 50 Soviets and captured 22 in routing an attacking Soviet force on April 21-22 in eastern Nangarhar province. One of the diplomats said the guerrillas also shot down five helicopters and two jets.

The Soviets reportedly staged the attack in retaliation for a successful rebel attack in early April on a caravan carrying arms to a pro-Kabul tribal group.

These reports could not be independently confirmed by Western journalists, who have rarely been allowed into Afghanistan since the Soviet Union invasion in December, 1979, in support of a Communist government beset by internal feuds and a war with Muslim rebels.