Afghans protest US killing of civilians

[unknownprince]

Afghans protest US killing of civilians
Wed Jul 6, 2011 11:13PM



PressTV - Afghans protest US killing of civilians

Afghans protesting presence of foreign troops in their country (file photo)
Afghan people have staged an anti-US rally in Khogyani district to protest against the deadly attacks on civilians by the US-led foreign forces.


People took to streets in Khogyani on Wednesday and chanted anti-US slogans like "death to foreign troops," Reuters reported.

The protest was sparked by the killing of two children in a US-led NATO airstrike in Ghazni province. The victims were taking care of their sheep when they were targeted.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has said it documented 368 "conflict-related" civilian deaths in May this year and 593 civilian injuries.

Civilians are the biggest victims of the Afghan war. The United Nations said that 2,777 people were killed last year, the highest total since the US-led invasion of the Asian country in 2001.


However, according to a UPI report, estimates developed by human rights groups put the number of civilians killed since 2001 merely by the US-led ISAF forces as high as 34,000.

Moreover, tens of thousands of other Afghan civilians have reportedly lost their lives due to forced displacement, starvation, lack of medical treatment, crime and lawlessness caused by the US-led war.

Hundreds more Afghan civilians have also been killed in US-led airstrikes and ground operations in various parts of Afghanistan over the past few months with the Afghan population growing ever more outraged over the seemingly endless cases of deadly assaults targeting innocent civilians.

MA/MGH

[unknownprince]

Hundreds Of Afghans Protest NATO Raid - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty © 2011

Hundreds Of Afghans Protest NATO Raid

July 06, 2011
Hundreds of Afghans have protested the deaths of two shepherds they say were killed in a NATO air strike.

Residents of Khogyani took two bodies to nearby Ghazni City, the provincial capital of Ghazni, southwest of Kabul, where they shouted slogans like "death to foreign troops."

NATO-led forces said an air strike had killed one insurgent on a road in Khogyani.

Accidental civilian deaths have driven a wedge between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Western backers.

Casualties are up in Afghanistan as the violence spreads.

The United Nations said May was the deadliest month for civilians since they began keeping records four years ago.

But the UN notes insurgents were responsible for 80 percent of the 301 civilians killed in May.

Elsewhere, 32 men working for a de-mining team were kidnapped on July 6 by gunmen in western Farah province.

In Washington, details emerged on the pullout of major U.S. combat units from Afghanistan. U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered 10,000 U.S. combat troops out of Afghanistan by the end of the year.

Lieutenant General David Rodriguez -- the outgoing No. 2 commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan -- said the withdrawal would start slowly.

He said 800 National Guard troops would leave this summer, and some 800 Marines would depart this fall.

compiled from agency reports