freepalestine
6th January 2011, 00:05
Foreign troops blamed for Afghan civilian deaths
</U>AFP
</B>
</U></I></B></STRONG>January 5, 2011
GHAZNI, Afghanistan — Afghan residents Wednesday accused US-led troops of killing three civilians in an overnight raid in Afghanistan's restive south, where the Taliban-led insurgency is concentrated.
Dozens of tribesmen paraded the bodies of three men through the southern town of Ghazni before gathering in a mosque, alleging that the victims were civilians and were killed by US soldiers.
Sayed Amir Shah, the head of intelligence in the province, told AFP at least one of the men "was definitely a civilian" and that the others also appeared to be non-combatants.
According to the locals the incident took place in Nawar district.
"We know for sure that one of the dead was definitely civilian. From what we have found through investigations so far, we believe that the two others were also civilians," he said.
The angry tribesmen shouted "death to America" and called on the US military to apologise for "killing innocent civilians."
Shah pledged to speak to the US military on behalf of the protesters in a effort to calm the angry mob, an AFP reporter said.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said its troops had killed "several insurgents" on Tuesday in the nearby Rashidan district.
An ISAF spokesman told AFP the military was investigating the exact location of the killings reported in Nawar and whether it was the same as the Rashidan incident.
The spokesman insisted the men killed were insurgents and that the coalition soldiers opened fire after they came under attack from the rebels.
ISAF announced Wednesday the deaths of two soldiers. At least five foreign troops have died in the war so far this year, following a record 711 who perished in 2010, according to independent icasualties.org.
:: Article nr. 73605 sent on 05-jan-2011 23:31 ECT
www.uruknet.info?p=73605 (http://www.uruknet.info/?p=73605)</I>
</U>AFP
</B>
</U></I></B></STRONG>January 5, 2011
GHAZNI, Afghanistan — Afghan residents Wednesday accused US-led troops of killing three civilians in an overnight raid in Afghanistan's restive south, where the Taliban-led insurgency is concentrated.
Dozens of tribesmen paraded the bodies of three men through the southern town of Ghazni before gathering in a mosque, alleging that the victims were civilians and were killed by US soldiers.
Sayed Amir Shah, the head of intelligence in the province, told AFP at least one of the men "was definitely a civilian" and that the others also appeared to be non-combatants.
According to the locals the incident took place in Nawar district.
"We know for sure that one of the dead was definitely civilian. From what we have found through investigations so far, we believe that the two others were also civilians," he said.
The angry tribesmen shouted "death to America" and called on the US military to apologise for "killing innocent civilians."
Shah pledged to speak to the US military on behalf of the protesters in a effort to calm the angry mob, an AFP reporter said.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said its troops had killed "several insurgents" on Tuesday in the nearby Rashidan district.
An ISAF spokesman told AFP the military was investigating the exact location of the killings reported in Nawar and whether it was the same as the Rashidan incident.
The spokesman insisted the men killed were insurgents and that the coalition soldiers opened fire after they came under attack from the rebels.
ISAF announced Wednesday the deaths of two soldiers. At least five foreign troops have died in the war so far this year, following a record 711 who perished in 2010, according to independent icasualties.org.
:: Article nr. 73605 sent on 05-jan-2011 23:31 ECT
www.uruknet.info?p=73605 (http://www.uruknet.info/?p=73605)</I>