By empty (5/29/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The Afghan capital erupted in gunfire and riots after US troops shot dead at least four people following a traffic accident, with angry crowds shouting \"Death to America.\" Gunshots could be heard near Kabul\'s diplomatic quarter as around 1,000 people marched toward the area. The trouble began when a US vehicle appeared to lose control and smashed into other vehicles, according to an AFP photographer who was on the scene.
The Afghan capital erupted in gunfire and riots after US troops shot dead at least four people following a traffic accident, with angry crowds shouting \"Death to America.\" Gunshots could be heard near Kabul\'s diplomatic quarter as around 1,000 people marched toward the area. The trouble began when a US vehicle appeared to lose control and smashed into other vehicles, according to an AFP photographer who was on the scene.The military coalition said the accident, which may have been caused by faulty brakes, killed one person and injured several. People angered by the carnage started protesting and pelting the military vehicle with stones. US troops then opened fire and killed at least four people, the photographer said. He said two men were shot dead next to him, and two other bodies were found after the burst of gunfire. Several people were wounded. The shooting set off more fury as protesters held aloft one of the bodies and chanted: \"Death to America, Death to (President Hamid) Karzai.\" \"These traitors killed at least 10 people. Death to them,\" a protestor named Ahmadullah said told an AFP reporter, referring to the American troops. Another said: \"These cowards opened fire into the crowd and killed them like sheep. First they drove into the people\'s cars, destroyed them and then fired onto the people who were only throwing stones at them. After the mob attacked police vehicles and torched a police station, Afghan police started shooting, the photographer said. The shooting seemed to worsen the violence as a crowd started marching on the diplomatic quarter. The Afghan parliament broke off regular business and went into an emergency session to discuss the violence, calling for calm. The interior ministry set up a team to go to the area to establish the number of dead and wounded. The incident comes just over a week after a major coalition strike against Taliban insurgents in the south of Afghanistan. The country\'s main human rights group said that attack killed about 34 civilians. (AFP)