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U.S. troops fired on civilians: Afghan witnesses
Updated Sun. Mar. 4 2007 11:31 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Afghan authorities and witnesses dispute a U.S. military claim that militant gunfire may have caused Afghan civilian deaths after a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of U.S. Marines.
Up to 10 people were killed and 35 were wounded in Sunday's incident. The U.S. military puts the toll at eight, while the Afghan interior ministry uses the higher toll.
The death toll had been pegged as high as 16 in earlier reports. One U.S. soldier was also wounded in the clash.
One official of Shinwar district in Nangarhar province said as the Americans fled the scene of the bombing, they treated every Afghan as a potential attacker.
More than half a dozen Afghans who were struck by bullets told The Associated Press that the American troops started shooting indiscriminately as they drove along a 10-kilometre stretch of highway.
"I saw them turning and firing in this direction, then turning and firing in that direction," Ahmed Najib, a 23-year-old wounded by gunfire, told the Associated Press. "I even saw a farmer shot by the Americans."
The incident happened after a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-filled minivan near the U.S. convoy.
The route, one of the busiest in the region, is often filled with cars and trucks and Afghans on bicycles and on foot.
Lt. Col. David Accetta, the top U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, said the retreating Marines may have come under fire from multiple points.
"It's not entirely clear right now if the people killed or wounded by gunfire were killed or wounded by coalition forces gunfire or enemy attackers gunfire," he said.
Zemeri Bashary of the Afghan interior ministry said the chief of the ministry's criminal division would travel to the area on Monday to lead an investigation.
"The coalition says they have proof that gunmen opened fire," said Bashary. "But I think more of the gunfire was from the (U.S.) side."
Village elder Malik Shan told AP, "I can assure you 100 percent" that there were no militants firing.
Accetta said it's possible villagers wouldn't have seen any attackers firing from covered positions and that they would have focused more on the U.S. vehicles.
Protest erupts
After the incident, angry demonstrations erupted in the region which is located roughly 50 kilometres west of the Pakistan border.
Hundreds of Afghans blocked the road and threw rocks at police, with some demonstrators shouting "Death to America! Death to Karzai," referring to President Hamid Karzai.
Victims at the Jalalabad hospital told AP they followed U.S. orders to pull over as the fleeing convoy approached, but were still hit by gunfire.
"When we parked our vehicle, when they passed us, they opened fire on our vehicle," said 15-year-old Mohammad Ishaq, who was hit by two bullets, in his left arm and his right ear. "It was a convoy of three American humvees. All three humvees were firing around."
An AP photographer and camera operator said the U.S. military later deleted photos and video taken by them, though neither had witnessed the suicide attack or resulting gunfire and weren't sure why their pictures had been deleted.
The U.S. forces involved in the attack and ensuing gunfire were part of the U.S.-led coalition, not NATO's International Security Assistance Force.
A man claiming to speak for Hezb-e-Islami, a group he said is linked with the Taliban, claimed responsibility for the bombing.
Karzai has pleaded with the U.S. and NATO to be more careful about not harming civilians.
Human Rights Watch, a U.S.-based group, estimates that NATO and U.S. forces killed more than 100 Afghan civilians in 2006.
Meanwhile, two NATO soldiers were killed in an unrelated attack.
NATO has confirmed that the two soldiers were British. They died in a rocket attack in Helmand province. That brings the British military death toll in Afghanistan to 50 since 2001.
Canada's troops operate in Kandahar province, while British troops are based in neighbouring Helmand province.
With files from The Associated Press
Updated Sun. Mar. 4 2007 11:31 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Afghan authorities and witnesses dispute a U.S. military claim that militant gunfire may have caused Afghan civilian deaths after a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of U.S. Marines.
Up to 10 people were killed and 35 were wounded in Sunday's incident. The U.S. military puts the toll at eight, while the Afghan interior ministry uses the higher toll.
The death toll had been pegged as high as 16 in earlier reports. One U.S. soldier was also wounded in the clash.
One official of Shinwar district in Nangarhar province said as the Americans fled the scene of the bombing, they treated every Afghan as a potential attacker.
More than half a dozen Afghans who were struck by bullets told The Associated Press that the American troops started shooting indiscriminately as they drove along a 10-kilometre stretch of highway.
"I saw them turning and firing in this direction, then turning and firing in that direction," Ahmed Najib, a 23-year-old wounded by gunfire, told the Associated Press. "I even saw a farmer shot by the Americans."
The incident happened after a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-filled minivan near the U.S. convoy.
The route, one of the busiest in the region, is often filled with cars and trucks and Afghans on bicycles and on foot.
Lt. Col. David Accetta, the top U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, said the retreating Marines may have come under fire from multiple points.
"It's not entirely clear right now if the people killed or wounded by gunfire were killed or wounded by coalition forces gunfire or enemy attackers gunfire," he said.
Zemeri Bashary of the Afghan interior ministry said the chief of the ministry's criminal division would travel to the area on Monday to lead an investigation.
"The coalition says they have proof that gunmen opened fire," said Bashary. "But I think more of the gunfire was from the (U.S.) side."
Village elder Malik Shan told AP, "I can assure you 100 percent" that there were no militants firing.
Accetta said it's possible villagers wouldn't have seen any attackers firing from covered positions and that they would have focused more on the U.S. vehicles.
Protest erupts
After the incident, angry demonstrations erupted in the region which is located roughly 50 kilometres west of the Pakistan border.
Hundreds of Afghans blocked the road and threw rocks at police, with some demonstrators shouting "Death to America! Death to Karzai," referring to President Hamid Karzai.
Victims at the Jalalabad hospital told AP they followed U.S. orders to pull over as the fleeing convoy approached, but were still hit by gunfire.
"When we parked our vehicle, when they passed us, they opened fire on our vehicle," said 15-year-old Mohammad Ishaq, who was hit by two bullets, in his left arm and his right ear. "It was a convoy of three American humvees. All three humvees were firing around."
An AP photographer and camera operator said the U.S. military later deleted photos and video taken by them, though neither had witnessed the suicide attack or resulting gunfire and weren't sure why their pictures had been deleted.
The U.S. forces involved in the attack and ensuing gunfire were part of the U.S.-led coalition, not NATO's International Security Assistance Force.
A man claiming to speak for Hezb-e-Islami, a group he said is linked with the Taliban, claimed responsibility for the bombing.
Karzai has pleaded with the U.S. and NATO to be more careful about not harming civilians.
Human Rights Watch, a U.S.-based group, estimates that NATO and U.S. forces killed more than 100 Afghan civilians in 2006.
Meanwhile, two NATO soldiers were killed in an unrelated attack.
NATO has confirmed that the two soldiers were British. They died in a rocket attack in Helmand province. That brings the British military death toll in Afghanistan to 50 since 2001.
Canada's troops operate in Kandahar province, while British troops are based in neighbouring Helmand province.
With files from The Associated Press
