Afghan protesters torch five fuel tankers destined for NATO force

Kabul - A crowd of hundreds blocked a highway in central Afghanistan on Sunday and torched five NATO fuel tankers to protest the military's killing of three people, officials said.

General Mustafa Khan Mohseni, Logar province police chief, said Afghan and NATO forces killed three "militants" during an operation in Naser village of provincial capital Puli Alam Saturday night.

The joint forces detained two more men in the targeted compound and seized four weapons, he said.

NATO also said that its troops killed "several insurgents" and detained two others including a Taliban regional sub-commander"involved in planning suicide attacks."

It said the raid was conducted based on intelligence information of militant activity, and that one "immediately surrendered and identified himself as the targeted insurgent."

Village residents blocked the main highway linking the capital city to south-eastern provinces Sunday morning, Din Mohammad Darwish, spokesman for the provincial governor, said.

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

Angry men carrying sticks and shovels chanted "anti-US" and "anti-Karzai's government" slogans, witness Mohammad Yamma said.

"They were calling on the central government to punish the killers and release their detainees or they would find other means to mete out justice," he said.

"Most of the protesters are the relatives of the three killed men," Darwish said, adding that the provincial governor had assigned a team to investigate the incident. He said three Pakistani passports were also seized from the house during the raid.

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

The US military said its soldiers were attacked as they approached Qaleh Sayedan village of the provincial capital. Two US soldiers were killed in the clash.

Logar, located 60 kilometers south of Kabul, was mostly under control of Taliban militants until early 2009.

More than 1,500 US soldiers were deployed to the province last year. NATO commander US General Stanley McChrystal said in February that the combined forces pushed the militants from most parts of the province.

However, provincial officials said the rebels began returning to the province when the weather got warmer in the region.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/320439,afghan-protestors-torch-five-fuel-tankers-destined-for-nato-force.html.