It happened on December 5, 2001 when a U.S. soldier responsible for calling in airstrikes accidentally misguided the Boeing B-52 bomber to strike a hill held by American Special Forces and dozens of their Afghan allies.

Two days earlier, U.S. Army Special Forces then-Captain Jason Amerine (leading Operational Detachment Alpha 574) and Afghan tribal leader Hamid Karzai had been fighting in the towns of Tarinkot[1] and Shawali Kowt[2] before advancing towards the village of Sayyd Alma Kalay.

After both talked in the headquarters, Amerine left to discuss further airstrikes with another officer.

While studying a map, a huge explosion hit the hill near them, apparently from one of their own bombs.

A military investigation revealed that the U.S. Air Force Combat Controller from the headquarters in Sayyd Alma Kalay who arrived earlier in the day made a mistake: due to a technical error with his issued GPS receiver, he did not realize that he had mistakenly given his own coordinates for an airstrike to the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress that ultimately dropped a 2,000 lb JDAM bomb on the hill, where several Americans and Afghans were located.