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KABUL - Thousands of angry demonstrators took to the streets in Afghanistan shouting "death to America" yesterday after United States forces were involved in a panicked shooting which left 16 civilians dead and 23 injured.
Local people as well as a number of Afghan officials accused the Marines of opening fire indiscriminately following a suicide bomb attack on their convoy in Nangarhar province.
An explosives-rigged minivan crashed into the convoy that US officials said also came under fire from militant gunmen. As the convoy made a frenzied escape, injured Afghans said the Americans fired on civilian cars and pedestrians.
Lieutenant-Colonel David Accetta, the top US military spokesman in Afghanistan, said: "It's not entirely clear if the people killed or wounded by gunfire were killed or wounded by coalition forces' gunfire or enemy attackers' gunfire."
But Mohammad Khan Katawazi, the district chief, insisted the Marines "treated every car and person along the highway as a potential attacker". Abdul Ghafour and Noor Agha Zwak, speaking on behalf of the Nangarhar police and Government, and Zemeri Bashary, the Interior Ministry spokesman in Kabul, also claimed the deaths and injuries were due to American fire.
"They were firing everywhere, and they even opened fire on 14 to 15 vehicles passing on the highway," said 38-year-old Tur Gul, who was shot twice.
"We parked our vehicle, but when they passed us, they still opened fire on our vehicle," said 15-year-old Mohammad Ishaq, who was hit by two bullets.
- INDEPENDENT
