Children among civilians killed by foreign troops in Kandahar

Pajhwok Afghan News

August 5, 2009

KANDAHAR CITY (PAN): Four civilians three of them children - were killed during an attack of foreign troops Tuesday night in Arghandab district of southern Kandahar province, civilians said.

Dozens of protesting villagers brought the bodies this morning from their village to the governor's house in Kandahar City, about 12 kilometers away.

ISAF said it is investigating the incident.

A tribal elder, Haji Bacha, told Pajhwok Afghan News that foreign fighter jets had bombarded a house in their village, killing four people and injuring two others.

The village residents came to the city with the bodies and laid them in front of the governor's house, chanting slogans against US forces. They demanded that the government investigate the attack.

After the protest, the injured people were taken to Merwais hospital for treatment and then, the villagers took the bodies of those killed back to the district for burial.

A statement from the ISAF press office said that a helicopter intercepted four insurgents on motorcycles in a field near Arghandab at 1:30 a.m.

The insurgents were in open ground with no residential areas in the vicinity. The insurgents were carrying weapons and plastic jugs and were identified as possibly emplacing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in an area known for IED attacks, the statement said.

ISAF shot rockets and small arms from the helicopter and killed the insurgents, and no bombs were dropped, the statement said.

There was a large explosion after the people were hit, indicating that they had explosive material, ISAF said.