Afghans protest U.S. raid that killed 4 - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Afghans protest U.S. raid that killed 4

KABUL — Afghan demonstrators blocked the path of a U.S. military convoy in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday after an overnight U.S. raid killed four Afghans and wounded two, an official and protesters said.

Protesters in the eastern city of Khost threw rocks at the convoy, shouted “Death to America” and burned tires in the road, sending up dark plumes of smoke. Several hundred men gathered in the street, preventing the vehicles from passing.

The demonstrators were condemning an early morning raid in Khost province that killed four people and wounded two, said Tahir Khan Sabari, Khost deputy governor. Protesters also said several Afghans were arrested in the raid.

Sabari said the four killed were civilians.

Overnight raids are typically carried out by U.S. Special Operations Forces. A U.S. spokesman couldn’t immediately be reached for comment, and a spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force had no immediate information.

Sabari said the raid took place without the participation of Afghan forces despite a recent agreement between U.S. forces and the Afghan Ministry of Defense saying Afghans would take part in overnight raids to prevent civilian casualties and help with cultural issues, like entering Afghan homes and language difficulties.

President Hamid Karzai has complained loudly the last several months about civilian deaths, and has pleaded with the U.S. and NATO to prevent such killings.

AP Television News footage showed Afghan protesters blocking the path of U.S. military vehicles in Khost, but there were no direct clashes between the military convoy and the protesters.

In the south, meanwhile, a suicide attack near the main gate of the police station in Zarang district of Nimroz province killed one civilian and one policeman, said Gov. Ghulam Dastagir.

The suicide attacker hoped to enter the police station but police stopped him at the entrance and he detonated the explosives he was carrying, Dastagir said. The explosion caused three rooms of the station to collapse, and police were searching for other possible casualties, he said.

Taliban militants have stepped up attacks the last several years and now control wide areas of the south. The U.S. is sending 17,000 more forces to Afghanistan this year to bolster the record 38,000 already in the country.

———

Associated Press writers Rahim Faiez in Kabul and Noor Khan in Kabul contributed to this report.