Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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May 7, 2009

Angry Crowd Protests Against Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=241B125:A6F02AD83191E16081A53A549A184D9970AD7039DCD7B7E4&
 
Officials say at least four wounded after police fired guns in effort to
disperse protesters in town of Farah 
A crowd of angry demonstrators threw rocks at government buildings in
western Afghanistan Thursday to protest recent civilian deaths they
blame on U.S. air strikes. Local officials said police fired their guns
in an effort to disperse the crowd of protesters in the town of Farah,
in the province of the same name. Health officials there said at least
four people were wounded when the protest turned violent, including one
demonstrator who was shot. The crowd was protesting against an incident
in Farah province earlier this week, in which local Afghan officials say
U.S. air strikes and related fighting killed more than 100 people,
mainly civilians. U.S. Army Gen. David Mc Kiernan But the top U.S. and
NATO commander in Afghanistan, General David Mc Kiernan, said Wednesday
that preliminary evidence indicates U.S. forces may not have been
responsible for the deaths. A team of foreign troops and Afghan
officials headed toward the site in Bala Bulak Thursday to investigate.
General Mc Kiernan said a provincial governor asked for a U.S. air
strike to help Afghan police battle a fairly large Taliban force, which
had beheaded three local officials. He added that preliminary
information from a joint U.S.-Afghan investigation indicates the U.S.
air strikes did not cause the civilian deaths. U.S. Defense Secretary
Robert Gates arrived in Afghanistan Wednesday. He told reporters he will
check the progress of his initiatives to improve the U.S. military's
intelligence capability, in an effort to avoid civilian casualties.
Gates also said he will review preparations for the influx of thousands
of additional U.S. troops in the coming months. U.S. President Barack
Obama has ordered 21,000 additional forces to reinforce the 38,000 U.S.
troops already in Afghanistan, where the Taliban-led insurgency is
spreading. 

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.


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