Afghanistan: US civilian massacre sparks protests

"We ask the Afghan government to force the American forces to leave Afghanistan. They kill more civilians than Taliban", an angry Haji Nangyalai told AFP on May 7 at a demonstration outside government offices in the western town of Farah.

The protest came after it was revealed that US air strikes had killed more than 70 civilians in the region on May 4.

"Afghan police said more than 100 people were dead, most of them civilians", AFP reported. "One Afghan official said he had seen the bodies of 20 children."

Protesters chanted "Death to America". When police fired in the air attempting to disperse the crowd, protesters responded by throwing stones. Four people were wounded.

Nangyalai said he was demonstrating to "show our anger at the crimes committed by the American forces".

Haji Samir told AFP he joined the protest after seeing two truckloads of bodies brought to Farah on May 5. "We want the Americans to stop killing civilians otherwise they will face a strong reaction from the people", he said.

Under pressure, including from the US puppet regime of President Hamid Karzai, the US military has launched an investigation into the mass murder. AFP reported that an western Afghanistan official said he collected the names of 147 people residents say were killed.

From GLW issue 794