- Oct 7, 2011
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I would say 'The Longest War' is now over. This is bad. Real bad.
Afghans vow vengeance for soldier's killing spree.
Nine children among 16 dead after US serviceman attacks villagers
Distraught and furious Afghans vowed vengeance yesterday after a US soldier apparently walked from a Nato base into the homes of civilians, turning his weapon on the families inside and killing 16 people, nine of them children.
The Afghan Ministry of Interior has urged people to show restraint until investigators have completed their inquiry, but concerns are mounting that the incident will re-ignite violent protests that swept Afghanistan last month after US servicemen burnt copies of the Koran at Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul.
Nazim Shah returned to his home in Panjwai district from a trip to Kandahar to find his entire family killed. Sobbing into the phone, he told The Independent: "All my family is dead ... We will get revenge on those who killed my family. We won't let this rest easily." The attack comes at a crucial time, as President Hamid Karzai and US officials, under strained relations, negotiate a future role for foreign forces after Nato troops hand over security to Afghan forces in 2014.
Witnesses and officials gave differing accounts of yesterday's events, but it appears that the soldier, as yet unnamed, left the joint US-Afghan Zangebad base at about 3am. He walked to the villages of Balandi and Alkozai, about a kilometre away, and began the killings which left nine children, three women and four men dead. Five more were wounded.
"The US soldier attacked three different houses, killing 11 people in the first house, four in the second house and one in the third house," said Mahammad, a tribal elder in Panjwai. "The 11 people who were first shot dead were brought together in one home and the soldier put pillows, sticks and blankets on them and burnt them." Photographs of the victims showed burn injuries.
Read More:
Afghans vow vengeance for soldier's killing spree - Asia - World - The Independent
DRUDGE REPORT 2012®
Afghans vow vengeance for soldier's killing spree.
Nine children among 16 dead after US serviceman attacks villagers
Distraught and furious Afghans vowed vengeance yesterday after a US soldier apparently walked from a Nato base into the homes of civilians, turning his weapon on the families inside and killing 16 people, nine of them children.
The Afghan Ministry of Interior has urged people to show restraint until investigators have completed their inquiry, but concerns are mounting that the incident will re-ignite violent protests that swept Afghanistan last month after US servicemen burnt copies of the Koran at Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul.
Nazim Shah returned to his home in Panjwai district from a trip to Kandahar to find his entire family killed. Sobbing into the phone, he told The Independent: "All my family is dead ... We will get revenge on those who killed my family. We won't let this rest easily." The attack comes at a crucial time, as President Hamid Karzai and US officials, under strained relations, negotiate a future role for foreign forces after Nato troops hand over security to Afghan forces in 2014.
Witnesses and officials gave differing accounts of yesterday's events, but it appears that the soldier, as yet unnamed, left the joint US-Afghan Zangebad base at about 3am. He walked to the villages of Balandi and Alkozai, about a kilometre away, and began the killings which left nine children, three women and four men dead. Five more were wounded.
"The US soldier attacked three different houses, killing 11 people in the first house, four in the second house and one in the third house," said Mahammad, a tribal elder in Panjwai. "The 11 people who were first shot dead were brought together in one home and the soldier put pillows, sticks and blankets on them and burnt them." Photographs of the victims showed burn injuries.
Read More:
Afghans vow vengeance for soldier's killing spree - Asia - World - The Independent
DRUDGE REPORT 2012®
