Three young brothers killed in night raids by US forces, sparks protests

[Zarawar]

KABUL, Afghanistan — A crowd of about 300 villagers yelled "Death to the United States" and blocked a main road in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday as they swore that U.S. forces had killed three innocent villagers, officials said.
NATO forces rejected the claim, saying they had killed several suspected insurgents and detained a local Taliban commander in the overnight raid.

The gulf between the two accounts is a reminder of how sensitive every NATO operation in Afghanistan has become. In Taliban-heavy areas it is hard to distinguish villagers from insurgents and sometimes public opinion turns against coalition forces even when they say they are certain they targeted the correct people.

And while NATO has drastically reduced the civilian deaths it causes, the military coalition still makes mistakes. During a clash in southern Helmand province Wednesday, coalition forces mistakenly killed an Afghan woman as they fired back at insurgents, NATO said in a statement.

In the first six months of this year, 386 civilians were killed by NATO or Afghan government forces, including 41 during search-and-seizure operations such as night raids, according to the United Nations.

The Taliban issued a statement decrying the U.N. report, which said insurgent groups were responsible for 76 percent of civilian deaths and injuries in the first half of 2010.

The U.N. "plays a major role as a propaganda organization for the American imperialism and keeps covering up the blatant crimes of the Pentagon," the group said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Thursday's raid happened before dawn in Wardak province's Sayed Abad district, a Taliban-dominated area where Afghan police can only go with very tight security, according to district police Chief Abdul Karim Abed.

Elders from Zarin Khil village said American troops stormed into a family's house and shot three brothers — all young men — and then took their father into custody, Abed said. Police are investigating the allegations but could not yet confirm or deny them, he said.

NATO called the men "suspected insurgents" and a spokesman, Capt. Ryan Donald, said they drew weapons and pointed them at the coalition troops.

"The assault force engaged the threat, killing the men. After securing the compound, the assault force detained one suspected insurgent," NATO said in a statement.

According to villagers, there was no fighting before the troops entered the house.

"They were sleeping in one room and suddenly the soldiers broke the glass window and they fired on them and killed them," said Mahmoud Khan, a relative who lives in the village.

Early Thursday morning, men from the village started to gather in the main market of Sayed Abad to protest the alleged civilian killings, Abed said. The men blocked the main highway going through the area and burned two trucks belonging to Afghan private security contractors, he said.

Abed said he did not have more detailed information because he was unable to leave the police compound.

"If we go out, maybe fighting will start," he said.

In nearby Paktiya province, meanwhile, NATO and Afghan troops killed more than 20 armed insurgents in an ongoing operation to disrupt insurgents in the area around Dazadran district, the coalition said in a statement.

Claims of Afghan civilian deaths spark protest  | ajc.com

[Feroza_Banu]

which province is this?
sayed abad? wardag?

[Zarawar]

This happened in Wardak..

[Catya Sher]

Wow, exactly after we had been discussing the role of Elders and the power of the resistance to NATO..>!

Due to that helpful discussion, I observed right away that it was an Elder who issued the information about the deathly raid.

I'm GLAD there are more and more protests. The surprise is that Afghans have been so patient so long with the dreadful actions of the occupying military.
I bet the 3 men were not actual fighters at all. This behavior is inexcusable.

The problem is: this has been going on ALL over Afghanistan probably and relatively few cases have been able to be carefully documented due to the tough conditions of travel probably for objective reporters. There needs to be much more coverage like Rethink Afghanistan did with the Sangin killings. Their reporter provided heart-rending firsthand accounts.

What does the Pasto banner say? I like the sword.

[Catya Sher]

Thank you, are the Pashto words similar to Marg bar Amrika? I know that's the famous Farsi version.
Speaking of which, here's probably an accurate insight from a Press TV interview today regarding this new article:

"A US writer and radio host says that the country's killing of civilians in Afghanistan serves the purpose of public intimidation.

"There have been many, many thousands of Afghan civilians, men, women and children deliberately targeted, deliberately killed to intimidate the population," Stephen Lendman told Press TV on Thursday.

"Things go back, I believe, to World War II, to intimidate the opposition...
"There is nothing random about civilian killings," he added."
***********************************
Frightening that these attacks must be mostly done on specific orders.

Someone told me that men he knew who signed up for the military in these years were asked outright: "Are you willing to kill civilians? Yes? No?"
The men who said yes were sent for combat duty; the no's were given desk jobs or other quieter assignments.

I cannot confirm this, needless to say. If at all true, though, that would explain a lot of such attacks as happened today in Wardak.

[Catya Sher]

Aseer Jaan,

Of course money is needed for reconstruction.
But: if America cared about providing all the necessary services to the Afghan people, it would be there right NOW providing those.
Instead American govt. only cares about the military fight to vanquish "stubborn rebels" who don't like foreign powers dominating them. Where does the money go?
Nearly all for THIS effort.
IF America has a conscience it would generously provide for rebuilding Afghanistan. But that's not the way: the money as you must know goes back into the pockets of American and other firms.
The gestures are not selfless: they are selfish.
Hence the US maybe will 'gyp' Afghanistan by walking away after pullout with some excuse.
Believe me, I predict that when they leave, they will REALLY be gone and wash their hands of it.
A few people with consciences will point out how wrong that is. But the American government will not listen to them.
They will strive for CONTROL behind the scenes, I am sure.
But few signs of a real REPENTANCE for all the damage and destruction they caused will show up.
Not even words, let alone huge amounts of money and expertise to benefit Afghans directly.
Only things that will have a large kickback to Western firms.

[Catya Sher]

You said, the Taliban are not responsible for.... which?

About protests, yes they SOUND ineffective.
But as the Iranians learned quickly in the late 70s, protests, banners, angry people shaking fists were the dramatic backdrop needed to attract the INTERNATIONAL press's attention and coverage.

Most Americans have NOT a clue that Afghans are not thrilled with the American 'peacekeeping operation to usher in civilization to defend them from the Terrible Taliban'. For that's the only they hear.
So if Western press catches these images of demonstrating crowds, then the word gets out immediately that there may be another side to the story.
Demonstrations are the type of thing that in normal circumstances, media love to cover.
I bet the Western media in Afghanistan is heavily restricted in unseen ways.
So few such evidences of lack of contentedness with the NATO occupation ever make it to Western TV screens.

But of course, really substantive changes need to be made, too, not just symbolic ones like protests.

[Zarawar]

Protests are not helping us. At this point we need American money for reconstruction. Imagine them leaving us with this hell they have created.

Are you serious? ANY struggle adds on to the whole image over all. Let it be a protest or a military action...let's be realistic.
A protest blocking the Kandahar-Kabul highway? that doesn't help their cause?

Go try to break that protest, or go there with a government issued license plate and try to break their protest.

Protests are better than TALKING!

[Zarawar]

Yes same meaning just pashto version.


To be honest wtih you I think the Taliban are not responsible for this. I am from Kandahar. Every single Kandahary either has connections or knows the Taliban. Its obvious that lets say the Taliban are present in a certain district. You will not find any troops there. Why? Cause they are scared of attacks.

what is your point? how are the Taliban responsible for US forces breaking into a house and killing three younger brothers, while they are asleep.

A little rationality will help here, they were not killed in a firefight between the Taliban and the US forces. Rather they were killed in sleep, Taliban are not responsible for everything that moves.

Also, I had talked to Catya khor about the whole night raid issue. It's just to demoralize the people, you see they took the father of three slain sons with them. This leaves a big scar in the community....people feel helpless and eventually turn back on the tribal system. Because, the most respected and credited people are the elderly and tribal elders. When they kill their sons and take them to Bagram, that's it, their leadership and all the respect is gone. These are the people that run the vast tribes of Wardak. Can you imagine them with bags over their heads, being marched out of their houses..

Our house was raided twice, once at night and then in the morning for no reason. They came in broke anything that came their way, they broke the locks, threw the toshakey/furniture and all the belongings to the yard. While the entire village was watching. What do you think people get from this?
They arrest the elders with their hands tied behind and bags over their heads, while the entire village is watching them helpless.
People look at them as desperate and helpless, the elders don't carry that authority they had prior to the raid. All kinds of conspiracies and rumors started taking over the area, what were the US forces doing there? Oh kor ta ye waraghlal, pa zora waraghlal, etc etc.

Again, the war is not only fought with paper and bullets, but ideologies also. There is much more to every action that takes place in Afghanistan. Everything is planned, like I said, they have been studying us and passing notes since the 19th century.

Also, in Wardak and i'm pretty sure in any other pashtun majority areas. The houses or villages that are mostly targeted are either the ones that have been the rulers in the areas for centuries and hold a good image, leadership wise.
Everyone knows in Wardak that majority of the tribes that are affected by the raids are those who fought the British in first or second Anglo-war. Look at Helmand, Kandahar or any other region..
They know the tribes that had a fierce reputation in the resistance against the previous invading powers, demoralizing those tribes is in their best interests.
I've been following these incidents.......THEY ALL MATCH UP!