Afghans riot after civilians die in crash

July 31, 2010

Riots were ignited in Afghanistan yesterday, after a crash involving a U.S. sports utility vehicle claimed the lives of several Afghan civilians.

Details surrounding the crash, in Kabul, are still unclear, although Afghanis who saw the crash blame U.S. forces for the incident. "The civilian vehicle was trying to get into the main road when the two foreign vehicles hit it and killed all four occupants," said one bystander, "People gathered around the crash site to see what happened, got angry and started attacking the foreigners." Some witnesses say a person was killed when U.S. contractors opened fire on a gathering crowd, but the U.S. embassy denies this charge.

Police fired shots in the air to disperse rioters who chanted "death to America" and "death to Karzai". Security forces say that the incident could provoke widespread riots, as happened after a similar incident in May 2006 sparked riots in Kabul.