KABUL,

During the past few days, I've been driving around Kabul to report for an upcoming story and found my eyes over and over again attracted to the melon stands, which are full of ripe green and yellow offerings stacked up in tempting displays.

These sights sights reminded me of my dinner visit to the Kabul Restaurant in Seattle shortly before I left for Afghanistan. The restuarant owner, Wali Khairzada, pulled up a chair and we had a long talk about his native land. One of his early comments was about how sweet the melons grow in Afghanistan, like a taste of paradise.

Eventually, we turned to a more somber discussion of civilian casualties from U.S. bombing strikes. That brought to our table the only other late night patron, a recently retired U.S. Army pilot who had flown many missions in Afghanistan, and wanted to explain how the military sought to reduce the toll on civilian populations.

It was a memorable evening, and I made a mental note of Wali Khairzada's praise of Afghanistan melons since I am a guy who feels like a trip to a new place is not complete without sampling as much local fruit as possible.

So on Friday, after my Afghan colleague and I had finished our interviews, we stopped at one of the melon stalls in an open air market that also featured tomatoes, okra, grapes, eggplant, bananas (from Pakistan) and other produce.

The stalls lined either side of a busy street, and we checked out a couple on one side before heading across the street to make our selection. We settled on one with a wrinkled skin that resembled a cantaloupe but was about the size and shape of a football. It is apparently called a Qandak, and our melon vendor, a 13-year old boy named Latif, had plenty of those stacked next to the Afghan versions of watermelon.

Latif told me that melons are trucked into town, often from the north, through a summer season that will end in a few weeks.

Latif helps out his father at the stall, but also is quite a student. In addition to regular studies, he's going to a private academy to study English. He says he doesn't remember much about the Taliban rule that ended in 2001 - -only stories told by his parents- -and figures that English may boost his future.

"I'm going to get a good job," Latif said.

I bought the melon and headed back to my room, figuring I could sample the fruit and report back on the taste. But upon my return to the guest house, there was news of a new aerial attack by NATO forces in the Kunduz province that had killed dozens of people. Some Afghan officials said that the dead included civilians.

So I and most other journalists in Kabul jumped into a big breaking story. The bombing came at a time when NATO commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal has made avoiding civilian deaths a huge priority.

In a July 6 tactical directive, he wrote:

"I expect leaders at all levels to scrutinize and limit the use of force like close air support ... against residential compounds and other locations likely to produce civilian casualties in accordance with this guidance," he said in the directive. "Commanders must weigh the gain of using CAS (close air support) against the cost of civilian casualties, which in the long run make mission success more difficult and turn the Afghan people against us. "

Now, less than two months later, a major air strike raised fresh questions about the use of NATO air power. The air strike targeted two hijacked fuel tankers that had become stuck in the mud as insurgents were trying to ford a swollen river, according to Afghan officials. They said that some locals then were attracted to the site in hopes of gaining free fuel

It was unclear why the German forces, with responsibility for the Kunduz area, had opted for an aerial attack on the trucks. The air drop turned the targets into fuel bombs. Gruesome pictures of burned survivors were soon on the Internet.

The attack is expected to increase tension in Kunduz Province, a key area with a vital NATO supply line running through it. The area had been relatively stable in recent months, but insurgents have become much more active and powerful.

NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) officials on Friday were not confirming any civilian casualties, but said they would join with Afghan officials to investigate reports of such deaths.

"ISAF will do whatever is necessary to help the community, including medical assistance and evacuation as requested," said Brig. Gen. Eric Tremblay, a spokesman in a prepared statement. "ISAF regrets any unnecessary loss of human life, and is deeply concerned at the suffering that this action may have caused for our Afghan friends."

I was up until late writing a story about the attack, and I was assisted by my Afghan colleague Hashim Shukoor who used a cell phone to interview officials in Kunduz Province.

The melon sat unopened on the floor by my desk, it's sweetness yet to be discovered.