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View Full Version : Afghan MPs Seek US Soldiers Persecution



sonz
06-02-2006, 09:27 AM
IslamOnline.net & News Agencies

Afghan run away as a US vehicle drives by during a protest in Kabul. (Reuters)

KABUL – Afghanistan's parliament has approved a motion urging the prosecution of US soldiers responsible for a deadly road crash which set off angry public protests nationwide.


The Lower House decided in a special session that "those who are responsible for the traffic accident should be recognized and handed over to the law," press officer Haseeb Noori told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Wednesday, May 31.

The Afghan legislators also want affected families to be compensated, he added.

A US military spokeswoman, Lt. Tamara D. Lawrence, declined to comment on the motion, saying she had not seen it.

A US military vehicle ploughed into a dozen of vehicles in the capital Kabul on Monday, May 29, killing at least five Afghan civilians.

The incident sent thousands of angry Afghans into the streets of Kabul, hurling stones at the US convoy and smashing vehicle windows.

The demonstrations quickly spread, engulfing much of the city, with many chanting "Death to America."

US forces opened fire randomly at the protestors killing many of them.

The Kabul correspondent of the Doha-based news channel said at least 30 Afghans were killed in the deadly incident.

A spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai said at least seven civilians were killed during the protest.

No Wrongdoing

US military spokesman Col. Tom Collins said the driver of the US truck was not suspected of any wrongdoing and had not been arrested.

He said the truck's brakes are believed to have overheated and failed.

Collins added that the US military was still investigating whether the troops involved in the crash fired their guns into demonstrators or over their heads.

"Our initial investigation ... shows fire came from the crowd, and our soldiers used their weapons to defend themselves," he claimed.

Collins said Afghan ministries had told the US military the total number of dead from the accident and ensuing protests was 20, adding that compensation is being offered to victims' families.

He said video footage clearly showed US soldiers firing rounds over the heads of a stone-throwing crowd of up to 500 people from a machinegun mounted on one of the 12 vehicles in the convoy involved in the crash.

The spokesman was unable to say whether other soldiers in the convoy had fired.

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

The United States has 23,000 troops in Afghanistan, the highest number since it invaded the country to oust the Taliban regime in late 2001.

NATO is expanding its force from 9,000 to 16,000, in preparation for taking over security responsibilities in the south from US-led forces.

http://islamonline.net/English/News/2006-05/31/05.shtml
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