Gunmen yesterday attacked an Afghan memorial service for 16 villagers killed by a US soldier, shooting dead a member of the Afghan military and wounding a policeman in a hail of gunfire.
Bullets were coming like rain on us for 10 minutes
It was the first deadly violence believed linked to the aftermath of Sunday’s killings that the Taliban had vowed to avenge and US officials had warned could lead to a surge in anti-American violence in the war-torn country.
Two of President Hamid Karzai’s brothers were in the delegation from Kabul, along with provincial government officials, a local reporter at the scene in the Panjwayi district of southern Kandahar province told AFP.
“There was an armed attack on them from a distance and the firing continued for about 10 minutes,” he said.
“Bullets were coming like rain on us,” another witness told AFP. The Interior Ministry later confirmed that one Afghan soldier died.
“One or more enemy were hiding there. When the delegation arrived they fired – one soldier is dead and a policeman is injured,” ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told AFP.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the Taliban had vowed revenge after a US soldier walked off his base in the early hours of Sunday, broke into three houses and killed 16 people – mainly women and children.
The dignitaries had left the area, with some heading back to Kandahar city about 45 kilometres away, while others remained to continue an investigation into Sunday’s shootings, a member of the delegation said.
In the capital, Mr Karzai met families from Kapisa, a province just north of Kabul, and again condemned Sunday’s killings as “an oppression” and a “great pain for the people of Afghanistan.”
The murders were the latest in a series of actions by troops that have provoked outrage in Afghanistan, and comes weeks after the burning of Korans sparked riots that killed 40 people.
In eastern Afghanistan, about 400 university students chanting “Death to America – Death to Obama” took to the streets ofJalalabad, in the first protest against the US army sergeant’s killing spree.
The crowd set fire to an effigy of US President Barack Obama and blocked the main highway to Kabul before dispersing.
Mr Obama has warned the US public against a hasty drawdown from Afghanistan, after a weekend poll said most Americans believe the war is not worth the cost and want an early withdrawal.
Yesterday, Mr Obama said he met the US ambassador to Kabul, Ryan Crocker, and Afghan mission commander General John Allen on Monday to discuss his strategy for a responsible withdrawal.