Kabul riot targets aid agencies
Kabul riot targets aid agencies
By Rachel Morarjee in Kabul
Published: May 29 2006 12:07 | Last updated: May 29 2006 18:33. Copyright by The Financial Times
About 1,000 demonstrators rampaged through the Afghan capital on Monday, setting alight the offices of foreign aid agencies and looting businesses in a wave of violence that killed at least 16 people and injured another 142.
The unrest was the worst to sweep through Kabul since 2001 and reflects growing resentment towards the foreign military presence in the country and the slow pace of reconstruction. The US has 23,000 troops and Nato a force of about 9,000 in Afghanistan.
The protest was triggered by a collision between a US military convoy and a cargo truck that caused a 12-car pile-up, the US military said in a statement.
A crowd quickly swelled around the accident in the northern Shomali district of Kabul and turned hostile, surrounding the US vehicles.
Shots were then fired either by the US military or by Afghan police who had arrived on the scene.
“There are indications that at least one coalition military vehicle fired warning shots over the crowd,” Colonel Thomas Collins, US military spokesman, said, adding that an investigation had begun.
Five people were killed during the accident and the shooting which followed, said a statement from the Afghan presidency.
A survey of Kabul’s hospitals found that at least 11 more people were killed during the day’s rioting. Protesters left a trail of destruction, burning down almost every police guard post they came across. Demonstrators set the offices of CARE and other foreign aid agencies ablaze, and also set civilian businesses on fire.
A group of European Union diplomats was escorted to safety by British Royal Marines after they had requested evacuation from their compound in central Kabul.
The main protest, composed mostly of young men, spawned smaller riots at other locations across the capital. “There is a large reservoir of discontent and people are now just looking for a reason to vent their rage,” said one western diplomat.
The road accident followed an air strike by the US during a battle with the Taliban in southern Afghanistan last week, in which about 30 civilians were killed.
Opinion remains divided over whether the disturbance was orchestrated by Islamic militants or was a spontaneous eruption.
“The riots were organised,” said a western security source working with Afghan police. “They have been waiting for a catalyst from the coalition forces and biding their time.”
He added that he had seen demonstrators carrying maps with a route drawn out. “They are after martyrdom. They are calling the people who got killed in the accident martyrs,” he said.
However, diplomats and eyewitnesses said the demonstrations had been used by criminals as an opportunity for looting and theft.
“They were thieves. They were waiting for a small opportunity to steal and loot from the houses,” said Jan Ali, a 50-year-old shopkeeper in downtown Kabul.
As the streets of Kabul grew calmer, police started to resume control and were harassing groups of men standing in the open.
An Afghan reporter said: “Soldiers are picking up groups of people in the street, punching people with no explanation and shoving them in cars.”
By Rachel Morarjee in Kabul
Published: May 29 2006 12:07 | Last updated: May 29 2006 18:33. Copyright by The Financial Times
About 1,000 demonstrators rampaged through the Afghan capital on Monday, setting alight the offices of foreign aid agencies and looting businesses in a wave of violence that killed at least 16 people and injured another 142.
The unrest was the worst to sweep through Kabul since 2001 and reflects growing resentment towards the foreign military presence in the country and the slow pace of reconstruction. The US has 23,000 troops and Nato a force of about 9,000 in Afghanistan.
The protest was triggered by a collision between a US military convoy and a cargo truck that caused a 12-car pile-up, the US military said in a statement.
A crowd quickly swelled around the accident in the northern Shomali district of Kabul and turned hostile, surrounding the US vehicles.
Shots were then fired either by the US military or by Afghan police who had arrived on the scene.
“There are indications that at least one coalition military vehicle fired warning shots over the crowd,” Colonel Thomas Collins, US military spokesman, said, adding that an investigation had begun.
Five people were killed during the accident and the shooting which followed, said a statement from the Afghan presidency.
A survey of Kabul’s hospitals found that at least 11 more people were killed during the day’s rioting. Protesters left a trail of destruction, burning down almost every police guard post they came across. Demonstrators set the offices of CARE and other foreign aid agencies ablaze, and also set civilian businesses on fire.
A group of European Union diplomats was escorted to safety by British Royal Marines after they had requested evacuation from their compound in central Kabul.
The main protest, composed mostly of young men, spawned smaller riots at other locations across the capital. “There is a large reservoir of discontent and people are now just looking for a reason to vent their rage,” said one western diplomat.
The road accident followed an air strike by the US during a battle with the Taliban in southern Afghanistan last week, in which about 30 civilians were killed.
Opinion remains divided over whether the disturbance was orchestrated by Islamic militants or was a spontaneous eruption.
“The riots were organised,” said a western security source working with Afghan police. “They have been waiting for a catalyst from the coalition forces and biding their time.”
He added that he had seen demonstrators carrying maps with a route drawn out. “They are after martyrdom. They are calling the people who got killed in the accident martyrs,” he said.
However, diplomats and eyewitnesses said the demonstrations had been used by criminals as an opportunity for looting and theft.
“They were thieves. They were waiting for a small opportunity to steal and loot from the houses,” said Jan Ali, a 50-year-old shopkeeper in downtown Kabul.
As the streets of Kabul grew calmer, police started to resume control and were harassing groups of men standing in the open.
An Afghan reporter said: “Soldiers are picking up groups of people in the street, punching people with no explanation and shoving them in cars.”
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