NationStates Jolt Archive


Tension much?

Thegrandbus
31-05-2006, 18:44
Personally I get the feeling that we're notbeing told somthing here... we would have had somthing pretty nasty to cause a riot over a car crash!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5033162.stm
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The US military says its troops fired in self-defence after a traffic accident sparked mass rioting in Afghan capital Kabul on Monday.

The protests in Kabul were the biggest since the fall of the Taleban in 2001.

The riots began after a US military vehicle crashed into 12 cars in the Afghan capital, killing several people.

People then started throwing stones, and US troops opened fire on the crowd. Other reports said Afghan security forces also opened fire.

At least seven people were killed in the shooting and the riots which followed. No US soldier was hurt in the incident.

US president George W Bush has promised Afghan leader Hamid Karzai "a full investigation" into the incident, a White House spokesman said on Wednesday.


A preliminary investigation by the US military has found that its soldiers retaliated in "self-defence", an army spokesman told reporters.

"Our initial investigation... shows fire came from the crowd and our soldiers used their weapons to defend themselves," Col Tom Collins said.


Tension in Kabul

Col Collins said video footage showed US soldiers firing over the heads of the stone throwing crowds from a machine gun mounted on one of the 12 vehicles in the convoy.

He did not say whether other soldiers in the convoy had fired.

"We just don't know yet who discharged their weapons or even at whom," Col Collins said.

"There is a lot we do not know. We are determined to get to the facts of what happened."

'Extraordinary measures'

On Tuesday, Afghanistan's parliament demanded the arrest of those responsible for the accident.

But Col Collins said the driver of the convoy truck had taken "extraordinary measures" to stop the vehicle after its brakes failed, but had been unable to avoid hitting some cars.

Afghans throw stones at US vehicle
The crowd turned on the US convoy after the crash

"The soldier is not under arrest. We have no indication at this time that he acted inappropriately," he added.

The unrest began after a US military vehicle apparently lost control and smashed into at least 12 civilian cars during morning rush-hour in Kabul's northern suburbs.

Hundreds of Afghans gathered after the accident, chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Karzai".

They pelted the US military vehicles with stones before scattering when the shooting began.

At the height of the violence, 21 European Union diplomats and staff had to be rescued from their compound by British Royal Marines working for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).

Buildings were ransacked and set alight, including the compound of the aid organisation Care International."
Drunk commies deleted
31-05-2006, 18:47
One more reason we should have just glassed Afghanistan rather than engage in nation building.