ICRC clears bodies from Mazar-e Sharif fort

Staff from the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) began the gruesome task of clearing bodies from Qal'e-ye Jangi, a fort outside the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif, while others involved remained stuck inside the compound on Thursday following another incident at the fort in which gunshots were heard.

"Three workers from the Ministry of Public Health went into the compound to bring out more bodies, gunshots were heard and two returned, and we evacuated them to hospital," Bernard Barrett, the spokesman for ICRC in Kabul, told IRIN on Thursday. He said the fate of the third person was unknown, and that details of the incident were still unclear.

The incident followed the revolt earlier this week by Taliban prisoners-of-war captured by the Northern Alliance being held at the fort, which resulted in many deaths. Questions are being asked about how the prisoners gained access to weapons.

ICRC and the Afghan Red Crescent have cleared all the bodies brought outside the compound where the fighting took place, and are waiting for officials from the Ministry of Public Health to bring out more, as the officials are the only ones able to enter.

With some 500 Taliban fighters said to have been held prisoner, Barrett did not want to elaborate on the number of bodies cleared, saying it could be misleading and was no indication of how many people had been inside the fort. "Our concern is to make sure these bodies are dealt with in a humane way, and we have started to bury them," he added. Meanwhile, the US has confirmed that one of its officers, a CIA operative, was a casualty in the incident.

The uprising by the Taliban prisoners was suppressed by Northern Alliance forces, supported by US and British troops. As the revolt gathered momentum, US bombers were deployed to pound the fort with high explosives. Two ICRC staff were in the fort holding talks with the local authorities when fighting started, but managed to escape unharmed. "We are in contact with the authorities regularly and will continue to clear bodies as and when they are brought out," Barrett added.