US troops kill Afghan civilians after suicide attack

US forces opened fire on civilians in eastern Afghanistan today as they fled a militant ambush involving a suicide car bomb and gunmen, Afghan witnesses said.

Up to 16 people were killed and 34 wounded in the violence.

More than half a dozen Afghans being treated for bullet wounds said that the US forces fired on cars and pedestrians along a three-mile stretch of one of eastern Afghanistan’s busiest roads.

“They were firing everywhere, and they even opened fire on 14 to 15 vehicles passing on the road,” said Tur Gul, 38, who was standing beside a petrol station and was shot twice in his right hand.

“They opened fire on everybody, the ones inside the vehicles and the ones on foot.”

After the suicide attack by an explosives-filled van, the Americans treated every car and person along the road as a potential attacker, though none of the people showed hostile intent, said Mohammad Khan Katawazi, the district chief of Shinwar.

Major William Mitchell, a US military spokesman, said militants launched a “complex” attack, firing at the coalition forces from three different points after the suicide bomb.

Forces fleeing the area fired in self defence, a military statement said.

“We certainly believe it’s possible that the incoming fire from the ambush was wholly or partly responsible for the civilian casualties,” he said.

The casualty tolls varied widely. The US military said 16 civilians were killed and 24 wounded “during the initial attack.”

A US soldier was also injured. The incident was under investigation, the military said.

Nangarhar provincial health chief Ajmel Pardus said eight people were killed, including a woman and two boys, and 34 were wounded. Four of the wounded were in a critical condition, he said.

The gunfire from Americans sparked angry demonstrations in the region – just 30 miles west of the Pakistan border. Hundreds of Afghans blocked the road and threw rocks at police, with some demonstrators shouting “Death to America! Death to Karzai,” a reference to President Hamid Karzai.

At the Jalalabad hospital, several victims said an American convoy approached them on the road and opened fire. As the convoy neared, many cars pulled over to the side, but were still hit by gunfire.

“When we parked our vehicle, when they passed us, they opened fire on our vehicle,” said 15-year-old Mohammad Ishaq, who was hit by two bullets, in his left arm and his right ear. “It was a convoy of three American Humvees. All three humvees were firing around.”

Nato and US forces are often accused of firing at Afghan civilians they fear may be about to launch an attack. Though officials say the shootings are done in self defence, they often injure or kill innocent civilians.

On December 3, British troops speeding away from a suicide bomb attack in Kandahar city opened fire on cars, killing one civilian and wounding six others.

US forces near today’s bombing later deleted photos taken by a freelance photographer working for the Associated Press news agency and video taken by a freelancer working for AP Television News. Neither the photographer nor the cameraman witnessed the suicide attack or the subsequent gunfire.

It was not immediately known why the soldiers deleted the photos and videos. The US military didn’t immediately comment on the matter.

The freelance photographer, Rahmat Gul, said he took photos of a four-wheel drive vehicle with four bodies that had been shot dead inside.

An American soldier then took Gul’s camera and deleted the photos. Gul said he later received permission to take photos from another soldier, but that the first soldier came back and angrily told him to delete the photos again. Gul said the soldier raised his fist as if he was going to strike Gul.

The US forces involved in the attack and ensuing gunfire were part of the US-led coalition, not Nato’s International Security Assistance Force. An official said the troops were Marine Special Forces.

A man claiming to speak for Hezb-e-Islami, a group he said is linked with the Taliban, claimed responsibility for the bombing and identified the attacker as an Afghan named Haji Ihsanullah.

The spokesman said the attack was carried out by a breakaway faction of Hezb-e-Islami that was once led by Younis Khalis, a former mujahedeen commander who died last year. The group is now believed to be led by a son of Khalis.

The purported spokesman, who identified himself as Qari Sajjad, said the explosion “destroyed two vehicles, killing or injuring American soldiers.” Sajjad said the attack was in revenge for “cruel acts” done to Afghans by US forces.

Lt Col David Accetta, a coalition spokesman, said the attack demonstrated the militants’ “blatant disregard for human life” by attacking forces in a populated area.