But military officials said it is possible that, in the fog of war, the Afghans inside the compound fired without knowing who was there.
The day after I visited, in mid-November, a drone over Pakistan that sought to strike a terrorist compound fired three missiles that Pakistani officials claimed hit a madrassa and killed six people.
Militiamen were in the UN car park next door to the compound, firing in the air, terrifying the refugees in an overflow camp outside and the 1,000 slightly luckier ones who were inside the walls.
The AU unit of about 100 troops fought off the first attack before falling back to trenches in the corner of their compound, firing through the night until their ammunition ran out.
The police then stormed the mosque compound, firing both live ammunition and rubber bullets at the group of Palestinians, killing four and wounding about 200.
Could the FBI have planned for a mass suicide attempt, and either had fire engines to hand or blanketed the compound with fire suppressant foam?
But the UN has always denied there were any militants in the compound or firing from the compound.
Another message, referring to a Taliban compound, warned: "fire coming from cmpnd".
Soon it attacked, too, diving toward the compound and firing air-to-ground rockets in pairs.
By nightfall, the protesters had evicted the militia and set parts of the compound on fire.
On 18 February 1977, more than 1,000 armed soldiers surrounded the compound, set fire to the generator, and brutalised the occupants.
