Afghans Torch NATO Vehicles After Civilian Deaths

3 years ago

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NATO supply vehicles were set ablaze in eastern Afghanistan after allegations were made public that U.S. and Afghan troops killed three civilians in their home during a nighttime raid.

The trucks were torched after a joint patrol fatally shot three people, including two brothers, and arrested two others, The Washington Post reported.

Over 100 Afghans demonstrated against the killings in Logar province. The angry crowd blocked traffic on a main road and used grenades to set fire to at least ten fuel tankers, local officials said.

NATO officials later said the men killed were insurgents who had displayed "hostile intent." One of the suspects under arrest was a low-level Taliban commander responsible for planning suicide bombings, according to officials.

"If they were insurgents, why are the people so angry?" asked provincial government spokesman Din Mohammad Darwish.

A relative of the slain brothers told the Post they worked as shopkeepers and had no links to terrorism.

But a police chief backed up NATO claims that the men killed and arrested were insurgents, saying soldiers collected weapons and Pakistani passports.

Filed Under: Afghanistan

Tagged: Afghanistan, civilian casualties, CivilianCasualties, Daily Guidance, DailyGuidance, NATO

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