March 15, 2009


PUL-E-ALAM: Angry with reported innocent killing of five persons of a family by the US forces in a raid in central Logar province last night, protestors besieged the building of Charkh district headquarters on Saturday.

More than three hundreds protesting people, chanting anti-American slogans, called for an immediate trial of the killers.

Last night, the US-led coalition troops raided a house of one Abdul Rashind in Naw Shar village, killing him and his four sons, officials and residents said Saturday.


The killings sparked an angry protest of the local people.

Police standing on the rooftop of the district headquarters' building remained on high alert to deal with any untoward situation.

To break up the mob, police fired shots at the protesting people, who had blocked all the roads leading to the district headquarters, injuring two persons.

District chief of Charkh Ghulam Farooq Hamayon told Pajhwok Afghan News that police opened fire at two persons intending to break into the district building.He added the wounded persons were shifted to Baraki Barak district hospital for treatment.

A local security personnel in the district said that anti-government elements had joined the protestors to carry out sabotage activities.

Abdul Zahir, a protestor warned to continue their protest by blocking roads unless those responsible for the killing of five innocent people were punished.Locals and government officials said the victims were local farmers.

However, the US led coalition forces say they conducted the operation against those who had links with IED experts and bombs makers. A statement by the coalition forces said that they killed five people in a house from where the forces were targeted.