US-led troops 'kill Afghan protesters'

Violence in Afghanistan caused by US-led troops


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/140120.html


US-led troops have reportedly opened fire at demonstrators in northern Afghanistan, killing dozens of people and wounding more than 20 other civilians.

Thousands of people protested near a NATO base in Badghis province after NATO forces killed an Afghan police trainee, a Press TV correspondent reported.

The Afghan trainee had fired on foreign troops, killing two Spanish soldiers and their interpreter.

Afghan media said that the Afghan soldier shot and killed the Spaniards when they tried to remove an Afghan woman's veil by force.

The protesters also called on the Afghan government to help send Spanish troops to their country.

More than 800 Spanish soldiers have stationed in Afghanistan within the framework of NATO forces.

Some 140,000 US-led troops are currently stationed in Afghanistan. A further 10,000 are expected to be deployed to the war-ravaged country in the coming weeks.

Afghan anti-US protest turns violent

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=124364§ionid=351020403


A crowd of hundreds block a highway in central Afghanistan and have torched five NATO fuel tankers to protest the killing of three people by US-led forces.

US and Afghan troops raided a house in Puli Alam, capital of Lugar Province south of Kabul, killing three men and arresting two others on Saturday. This is while the Afghans assert the occupants of the house were innocent civilians.

Early Sunday, hundreds of local residents blocked the main highway linking the capital city to the southeastern provinces, Din Mohammad Darwish, spokesman for the provincial governor, told a Press TV correspondent.

"The protestors burned five tankers that were transporting fuel to NATO forces in the province," he said, adding that they were dispersed by police.

Demonstrators chanted anti-US and anti-government slogans, asking for an independent investigation into the killings.

"Most of the protesters are relatives of the three dead men," Darwish said, adding that the provincial governor had assigned a team to investigate the incident.

The protest came two days after another demonstration in the same area by residents slamming the US forces for killing five civilians during a raid on Thursday.

Ahead of London summit, Taliban reveal demands

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117256§ionid=351020403


The Taliban say the 60-nation conference in London on Afghanistan will be a waste of time should it not entirely focus on the departure of foreign forces from the war-torn country.

In a statement Wednesday, the militants said the outcome of the summit will be as disappointing as of the meetings in Paris and Tokyo, if it does not consider the reality on the ground.

World leaders and senior representatives from around the globe are in London to attend the high-profile conference on the future of Afghanistan.

Ahead of the summit, Taliban spokesman Zabihuallh Mujahid said the only solution is the withdrawal of all international troops from Afghanistan, a Press TV correspondent reported.

To bring peace to the country, the statement said, all Taliban detainees in Guantanamo Bay and Bagram prisons should be released and all Taliban leaders should be removed from the UN blacklist.

The Taliban, it said, will continue to fight foreign forces to free the country from occupation.

The US, which led the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan to fight terrorism and root out the Taliban, meanwhile, is mulling over a plan to reintegrate the militants in the country's political system.

US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke says the plan will force the Taliban lay down their weapons and stop resisting foreign forces.

According to Holbrooke, the US believes two-thirds of the Taliban can be pardoned as they do not follow extremism.

Meanwhile in Afghanistan, more than a hundred thousand foreign troops are facing an increasing struggle to fight militancy and restore security in several parts of the country.