- U.S. soldiers investigated in deaths of Afghan villagers
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- * U.S. troops have had a base at the old Soviet airfield
at Shindand since August, and the district chief said the deaths could
stir up animosity in the area, a strategic region that borders Iran.
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- "We told the Americans: 'You Americans are always
insisting on human rights in the world. But in war, when your enemy is
injured, you do not have the right to shoot him, and you shot him with
three pistol shots.' "
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- SHINDAND - Several American
soldiers are under investigation in the shooting deaths of two Afghan villagers
last Friday afternoon outside a U.S. base in western Afghanistan, the commander
of the base, Lt. Col. Ashton Hayes, said yesterday.
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- Witnesses and local officials said the two villagers
were shot Feb. 11 while they fled across a field. Two witnesses said in
an interview that two American soldiers then approached one of the Afghans,
who was wounded, and shot him dead at close range.
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- "They did it on purpose, I think," said Muhammad
Ismail, 30, the brother of Naib, 22, whom friends said they saw being shot
as he lay on the ground. "I am really angry about the Americans."
The witnesses said the Americans were Special Forces soldiers, but that
could not be confirmed.
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- The incident has angered residents of Moghalan, a village
nearby where the two men lived, and prompted a demonstration Saturday where
young men shouted, "Death to America."
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- U.S. troops have had a base at the old Soviet airfield
at Shindand since August, and the district chief said the deaths could
stir up animosity in the area, a strategic region that borders Iran.
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- Hayes said the military was taking the case "very
seriously." He said investigators were on their way from Kabul and
that the battalion would work to make amends to the villagers. The soldiers
under investigation were still at the base, he said but would not give
further details.
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- The men who were killed, Naib, and Rasul, also 22, were
cutting firewood beside the road at 5 p.m. when a car of Afghan National
Army soldiers drove past, followed by Special Forces soldiers in a black
sport utility vehicle. At the sight of the SUV, the two men dropped their
work and fled across the field toward the village, said two witnesses,
Taj Muhammad, 22, and Hamidullah, 22, both friends of the dead men who
were sitting nearby chatting with a third friend as they watched over a
flock of sheep.
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- They said they saw four American soldiers with weapons
get out of the vehicle. Two of them fired on the fleeing men, cutting them
down, the witnesses said. The two friends said they watched as the Americans
approached Rasul, picked him up and then dropped him. "He fell down,
and then we realized he was dead," Muhammad said.
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- The Americans then approached Naib who was still moving.
"He was lying face down, and his hand was out to the side," Muhammad
said. "When they approached, he moved it and tried to put weight on
it. The Americans came and shot him." The two said one American fired
three shots into the chest of Naib.
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- The first reports in the local media said American forces
had killed two members of al-Qaida, and that three more had escaped. But
Hayes said it was clear that the victims were just villagers, and he confirmed
that the military had given each of the families $2,000 to help with their
immediate difficulties.
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- "We have no reason to say there were Taliban or
al-Qaida," Hayes said, adding that in the few weeks he had been based
in Shindand, he had seen no evidence of Taliban or al-Qaida activity in
the area.
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- "I can only say it was a mistake," the district
chief, Kamin, said. "They had no weapons; they are from a poor family."
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- Rasul's father, Nasrullah, said, "We are hurting
inside," as women at his home began wailing and weeping.
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- But it was the suspicion that a wounded man had been
killed that most angered local residents.
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- Muhammad Karim, an elder of the village, met with Hayes
on behalf of the families.
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- "We told the Americans: 'You Americans are always
insisting on human rights in the world. But in war, when your enemy is
injured, you do not have the right to shoot him, and you shot him with
three pistol shots.' " The Americans denied shooting the wounded man,
Karim said.
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