RAHIM FAIEZ
JALALABAD
US Marines fleeing a militant ambush yesterday opened fire on civilian cars and pedestrians on a busy highway in eastern Afghanistan, injured Afghans said. Up to 10 people were killed and 35 wounded.
A suicide attacker detonated an explosives-filled minivan as the American convoy approached, then militant gunmen fired on the troops, who returned fire, the US military said.
As the Americans sped away, they treated every car and person along the highway as a potential attacker, said Mohammad Khan Katawazi, the district chief of Shinwar. However, Major William Mitchell, a US military spokesman, said those killed and injured may have been shot by the militants.
At least six Afghans recuperating from bullet wounds said the US forces fired indiscriminately along a six-mile stretch of one of eastern Afghanistan's busiest roads - often filled not only with cars and lorries, but with Afghans on foot or on bicycles.
"They were firing everywhere, and they even opened fire on 14 to 15 vehicles passing on the highway," 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."
The casualty tolls varied. The Interior Ministry said 10 were killed. The US military said eight civilians were killed and 35 wounded, after earlier saying 16 were killed and 24 wounded. A US soldier was also injured.
The military said it was investigating. "We certainly believe it's possible that the incoming fire from the ambush was wholly or partly responsible for the civilian casualties," Mitchell said.
Health chief Ajmel Pardus said eight people were killed, including a woman and two boys, and 34 were wounded, including four people in critical condition.
Interior Ministry spokes-man Zemeri Bashary said the government would conduct a criminal investigation, adding it appeared that gunfire from the US soldiers caused most of the casualties.
The incident prompted angry demonstrations in the region, 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.-AP
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