Wednesday, January 6, 2010

US-Led Forces Accused of Executing Schoolchildren

US-Led Forces Accused of Executing Schoolchildren

In Afghanistan, hundreds have taken to the streets of Kabul and elsewhere to protest U.S. killing of civilians. The incident that has sparked the most outrage http://bearmarketnews.blogspot.com/took place in eastern Kunar on December 27th when ten Afghans, eight of them schoolchildren, were killed. According to The Times of London, US-led troops dragged innocent children from their beds and shot them during a nighttime raid. Afghan government investigators said the eight students were aged from 11 to 17, all but one of the from the same family.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai had harsh words for US and NATO forces on Tuesday in the wake of a string of attacks that has killed dozens of civilians. His comments came in an interview on Al Jazeera.

On Monday, hundreds of people, mostly students, protested in Kabul and in the province of Nangarhar against the US killing of civilians. Nearly 30 civilians have died over the past two weeks alone in US-led airstrikes and ground operations.

But the incident that has sparked the most outrage took place in eastern Kunar on December 27th when ten Afghans, eight of them schoolchildren, were killed.

According to the Times of London, US-led troops dragged innocent children from their beds and shot them during a nighttime raid. Afghan government investigators said the eight students were aged from 11 to 17, all but one of the from the same family. The headmaster of the local school said seven of the children were handcuffed and then executed. A preliminary investigation by the United Nations reinforced Afghan claims that most of the dead were schoolboys.

For more we go to Afghanistan to speak with Jerome Sparkey, he is the Times of London correspondent in Afghanistan who reported on this story. He joins us on the telephone from Kabul.

Jerome Starkey, the Times of London correspondent in Afghanistan. Website: JeromeStarkey.com

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