USA 14 - Afghanistan 0

[flipflop]

Troops kill 14 Afghans in disputed encounter


http://www.armytime%20s.com/news/%202008/11/ap_%20afghan_guarddeat%20hs_111008/

By Fisnik Abrashi - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Nov 10, 2008 19:06:27 EST

KABUL, Afghanistan - American soldiers shot and killed 14 security guards
after an encounter in eastern Afghanistan, and the Afghan president said
Monday he feared the deaths would only discredit his own government in the
eyes of its people.

The U.S. coalition said its troops shot at three vehicles carrying armed men
in the eastern Khost province Sunday only after its occupants opened fire on
their forces.

"There were secondary explosions in the vehicles, and 14 armed men were
killed. Numerous ammunition belts and small-arms weapons were recovered from
the vehicles," a statement from the U.S. military said Monday.

The military said it has launched a joint investigation with Afghan
authorities.

President Hamid Karzai, in a statement issued Monday, said those killed were
private security guards working for a road construction company.

"Carrying out such attacks will only expand the gap between the people and
the government of Afghanistan, as well as between Afghanistan and its
international allies," Karzai said.

The U.S. has been blamed in a number of civilian deaths that the Afghan
government complains undermine Karzai's standing and turn ordinary Afghans
against American and NATO troops.

Last week, the U.S. said a joint U.S.-Afghan investigation found that 37
civilians and 26 militants were killed during a battle between U.S. troops
and Taliban militants in the village of Wech Baghtu in the southern Kandahar
province. The U.S. has said the militants forced villagers to remain during
the battle.

Karzai has long pleaded with the U.S. and NATO to prevent civilian
casualties. Last week he appealed to U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to
ensure that Afghan civilians are not killed in coalition operations.

According to an AP count of civilian deaths this year, U.S. or NATO forces
have killed at least 275 civilians, while 590 have died from militant-caused
violence like suicide bombs.

Meanwhile, a roadside blast hit a vehicle in western Herat province Monday,
killing four people, including a local intelligence chief, a doctor and a
prosecutor, said Noor Khan Nekzad, a police spokesman for the western
region.

The four victims were on their way to investigate a criminal case when the
blast ripped through their vehicle in Adraskan district, Nekzad said.