Reuters, November 28, 2008

Afghans riot in Kabul after British troops kill civilian

The rioters pelted Afghan police with stones and were chased down side-streets before dispersing.

KABUL - Dozens of angry Afghans pelted police with stones after a convoy of foreign troops killed one civilian and wounded three more in Kabul on Friday, the capital's police chief and witnesses said.

Seething resentment against the presence of some 65,000 foreign troops is growing in Afghanistan after scores of Afghan civilians have been killed in a series of mistaken air strikes this year.

"This morning a convoy of British ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) troops were passing here and they had a misunderstanding with a civilian vehicle," said Kabul police chief Mohammad Ayoub Salangi.

Father of slain Afghan boy cries after his son was shot dead by foreign troops in Kabul November 28, 2008. Dozens of angry Afghans threw stones at police after a convoy of foreign troops killed one civilian and wounded four more in the capital, Kabul, on Friday, the Kabul police chief and witnesses said. (Reuters photo)

"The troops opened fire and killed one civilian and wounded three more," he said.

Witnesses said the troops opened fire on a minibus.

One body wrapped in white cloth was put into the back of a taxi and driven away from the scene as crowds chanted "death to Bush, death to America".

"They killed my son, my son is dead," said a weeping old man.

The rioters pelted Afghan police with stones and were chased down side-streets before dispersing.

Dozens of Afghans gathered for a peaceful protest near the United Nations headquarters in Kabul on Thursday for a peaceful protest against the killing of civilians in foreign air strikes.

At least four Afghan civilians have been killed by foreign soldiers in Afghanistan this year in what international forces call "escalation of force procedures" after their vehicles approached too close to troop convoys.

Large-scale rioting broke out in Kabul in 2006 after a U.S. military vehicle suffered brake failure and ploughed into a crowd, killing five people. Seven more people were killed in the rioting. (Reporting by Yousuf Azimy; Writing by Jon Hemming; Editing by Valerie Lee)

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