| | Kabul rioters burn SUVs, yell 'Death to America' MSNBC
07/30/2010
By
[Printer Friendly Version]
Deadly crash near U.S. Embassy sparks protests in Afghan capital
KABUL, Afghanistan — Police fired weapons into the air Friday to disperse a crowd of angry Afghans who shouted "Death to America" after an SUV was involved in a traffic accident that killed four Afghans, an official said.
Protesters hurled stones and set fire to two vehicles after the crash on the main airport road, according to the capital's criminal investigations chief, Abdul Ghaafar Sayedzada.
SUVs are often associated with foreigners, but it remained unclear who caused the accident because the occupants fled the scene. However, a NATO official told AFP the vehicles involved in the crash belonged to the U.S. Embassy.
AFP reported that a NATO quick-reaction force was sent to the area, which is not far from the U.S. Embassy.
"The civilian vehicle was trying to get into the main road when the two foreign vehicles hit it and killed all four occupants," local resident Saleh Ahmed told AFP. "People gathered around the crash site to see what had happened, got angry and started attacking the foreigners."
A fatal traffic accident caused by a U.S. military convoy in 2006 triggered an anti-American riot in Kabul that left at least 14 people dead and dozens injured.
Dead delisted
Meanwhile, five Taliban were struck off a U.N. Security Council list of people subject to sanctions — a move sought by Kabul to ease reconciliation talks with insurgents, a U.N. diplomat said.
The move followed a review of the list of Taliban and al-Qaida members maintained by a Security Council committee. Two of the five were delisted because they were dead, the diplomat said.
Afghanistan had pressed the committee to take some names off the list as part of a scheduled update. A "peace Jirga" in Afghanistan last month recommended negotiations with moderate Taliban leaders and other insurgents to end a worsening nine-year war in the country.
Other Stories:
|
|