World: Death in Distant Places

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At week's end, the Israelis finally explained the disastrous Abu Zabal bombing as "an incredible coincidence." The pilot was approaching the target at high speed and evading antiaircraft fire when his radar bombsight failed. While seeking his target visually, he saw reference points—an Arab village, long, low buildings, sand dunes and a road intersection —that looked exactly like those he had been told to look for as he approached a military base at Khanka. Actually, they were identical to features in Abu Zabal, two miles away from the intended target.