Hundreds of protesters burned tires and blocked roads yesterday in eastern Afghanistan as they accused NATO forces of killing civilians in an overnight raid, but the alliance said eight insurgents were killed in the attack.
More than 500 people poured into the streets in the Surkh Rod district of Nangahar Province to protest the raid by international forces that they claim killed at least nine civilians. A father and his four sons and four members of another family were killed in the NATO operation, said Mohammed Arish, a government administrator in Surkh Rod.
“They are farmers. They are innocent. They are not insurgents or militants,” Arish said.
However, NATO said the raid involving allied and Afghan forces targeted insurgents. Eight — including a Taliban sub-commander — were killed in a firefight, alliance spokesman Colonel Wayne Shanks said.
He said militants fired rocket-propelled grenades at NATO forces.
Two other people were captured during the operation and weapons and communications gear were confiscated at the targeted compound, Shanks said.
Protesters burned tires and blocked roads and sought to march toward the provincial capital of Jalalabad before being turned back by police, Arish said. At least three people were injured during a clash with police, the Nangahar governor’s office said.
Civilian deaths at the hands of NATO forces are highly sensitive.
Public outrage over such deaths led General Stanley McChrystal, the NATO commander, last year to tighten the rules on combat if civilians are at risk.
McChrystal has ordered allied forces to avoid night raids when possible and bring Afghan troops with them if they do enter homes after dark. However, he stopped short of seeking the complete ban sought by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who discussed the issue in meetings this week with US officials in Washington.
Also yesterday, NATO spokesman Shanks said a US service member died in an insurgent attack in the east, though he did not provide details. The alliance said another service member died a day earlier following in a roadside bombing in the restive south. NATO has not indicated the nationality of the service member, citing a policy of deferring to member nations.
With the deaths, NATO has lost 23 service members in Afghanistan this month.
Violence has been rising in the southern province of Kandahar.
NATO and Afghan government forces are gearing up for a major operation in the region to root out Taliban insurgents in the region. NATO leaders believe the operation will be crucial to the outcome of the war.
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