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Kuchi nomads riot in Kabul after land dispute deaths
Kuchi nomads riot in Kabul after land dispute deaths
By RFI
Nomadic tribesmen burned tyres and blocked roads near Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s palace on Tuesday after at least three of their comrades had been killed in clashes over a land dispute.
Police said that three people were killed and three injured when the Pashtun migrants, known as Kuchis, clashed with guards working on a housing development planned by the family of Afghan MP Qais Hasan.
But an AFP agency photographers was shown four bodies by protesters and Gran Hewad, of the Afghan Analysts Network in Kabul, told RFI that six people have been killed and five injured.
“During the night, the township shot four to five rockets at Kuchi residents and destroyed their houses,” he says. “In the morning, Kuchi supporters arrived from their areas and started fighting off and on against the people in the township.”
The Kuchis then marched into Kabul and staged a protest, with police responding with water cannon.
“The relatives of the wounded and the dead organised this demonstration to ask for the rights from the owners of the residential township,” says Hewad, adding that the person who claims she is the owner of the area has no proof of ownership of the land.
The crowd agreed to leave the area after several hours of protests.
An estimated two million Kuchis travel around Afghanistan with tents and livestock and special measures have to be taken to enable them to vote in elections.
In 2010 there were clashes between Kuchis and members of the Hazara ethnic group over pastures in the central highlands.
By RFI
Nomadic tribesmen burned tyres and blocked roads near Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s palace on Tuesday after at least three of their comrades had been killed in clashes over a land dispute.
Police said that three people were killed and three injured when the Pashtun migrants, known as Kuchis, clashed with guards working on a housing development planned by the family of Afghan MP Qais Hasan.
But an AFP agency photographers was shown four bodies by protesters and Gran Hewad, of the Afghan Analysts Network in Kabul, told RFI that six people have been killed and five injured.
“During the night, the township shot four to five rockets at Kuchi residents and destroyed their houses,” he says. “In the morning, Kuchi supporters arrived from their areas and started fighting off and on against the people in the township.”
The Kuchis then marched into Kabul and staged a protest, with police responding with water cannon.
“The relatives of the wounded and the dead organised this demonstration to ask for the rights from the owners of the residential township,” says Hewad, adding that the person who claims she is the owner of the area has no proof of ownership of the land.
The crowd agreed to leave the area after several hours of protests.
An estimated two million Kuchis travel around Afghanistan with tents and livestock and special measures have to be taken to enable them to vote in elections.
In 2010 there were clashes between Kuchis and members of the Hazara ethnic group over pastures in the central highlands.
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