Kabul rocked by anti-US riot: Night curfew imposed; 50 killed in attack on Taliban
KABUL, May 29: Six people were killed in Kabul on Monday when security forces opened fire on protesters after a fatal crash involving a US army truck triggered the worst riots in the Afghan capital since the fall of the Taliban.
Officials said the rioting broke out after the truck, part of a US convoy, crashed into a dozen vehicles. Eight people were killed and more than 100 wounded in the subsequent protests.
In southern Afghanistan, western warplanes bombed a mosque where the Taliban were holding a meeting, killing 50 people.
After the accident in Kabul, a furious crowd hurled stones and smashed windows of the convoy vehicles, according to a US military statement. “There are indications that at least one coalition military vehicle fired warning shots over the crowd,” it said.
Afghan police also opened fire when they came to the assistance of the US troops, but it was unclear who was responsible for shooting into the angry crowd.
Some eyewitnesses blamed the US troops, others blamed the police and some blamed both.
A reporter at the scene saw one man shot dead and several wounded people being taken away, while rioters set alight two police cars. Several television cameramen were beaten by protesters, journalists said.
US military spokesman Lt Col Paul Fitzpatrick said no US troops had been hurt, and an investigation had begun into the incident, which happened in Kabul’s northern outskirts during the morning rush hour.
By early afternoon up to two thousand protesters had gathered in central Kabul, some marching on parliament and some on the presidential palace, and gunfire crackled as Afghan police and troops fired in the air to disperse the crowds.
Several hundred more congregated at an intersection leading to the heavily fortified US embassy, chanting slogans of ‘Death to America’ and burning American flags.
A few dozen forced their way past a police cordon guarding the road to the embassy and threw stones at vehicles carrying foreigners into the compound.
AID AGENCIES TARGETED: A number of other international aid agency compounds and offices were set on fire in downtown Kabul before order was restored, a western security source said.
In a televised address to the nation, President Karzai said the unrest was fuelled by ‘opportunists and agitators’, warning Afghans they could not afford to let internal enemies destroy the country.
“My wish from my countrymen is for them to deal seriously wherever they confront such elements and not allow them to destroy our home again,” Mr Karzai said.
The president indefinitely postponed a three-day visit to Qatar, which he had been due to begin on Monday, in the wake of the riots.
LOOTING: An eyewitness said he saw shops being looted, and a house belonging to a foreigner and the office of Care International aid group being ransacked, while cars were set ablaze outside a private television broadcaster’s building.
Some demonstrators tore down a billboard poster of Mr Karzai, who is regarded by many Afghans as dependent on US support.
“We don’t accept Karzai any more as a president. We protest against him: death to Karzai!” Jaweed Agha, one of the protesters, shouted.
CURFEW: The Afghan government declared a six-hour overnight curfew in the capital.
“In order to ensure better security and safety of Kabul citizens, the ministry of interior imposes a curfew from 10pm to 4am. Violators will face strong legal action,” a statement said.
It was the first curfew in the city for several years.
MOSQUE BOMBED: A spokesman for the US-led forces said western warplanes had bombed a mosque in the southern Helmand province while the Taliban were holding a meeting, killing 50 people.
Five Canadian soldiers were wounded and a suspected Taliban killed in a gun battle elsewhere in the volatile south.—Reuters/AFP
KABUL, May 29: Six people were killed in Kabul on Monday when security forces opened fire on protesters after a fatal crash involving a US army truck triggered the worst riots in the Afghan capital since the fall of the Taliban.
