KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — NATO and Afghan forces are investigating a claim
by the Afghan police that American soldiers fired on them for no
reason, killing four officers and wounding two others, and inflaming
tensions in southern Afghanistan’s Arghandab Valley, where security
gains brought by the surge of American troops remain brittle.
(Pic) Muhammad Naim, left, and Abdullah, who goes by one
name, were wounded. The officers gave nearly identical accounts.
While there have been dozens of cases of Afghan soldiers firing on
members of the NATO-led military coalition, reports of NATO soldiers
firing on their Afghan counterparts are rare. American and NATO
officials have yet to release details of the shooting, which took place
on Tuesday evening at a police checkpoint outside Combat Outpost Tynes, a
small base in the volatile Arghandab district of Kandahar Province.
By Thursday, word of the shooting was stirring anger in the area, where
some residents had vowed to stop helping the Americans if the soldiers
responsible were not brought to justice.
In bedside interviews at a military hospital in Kandahar on Thursday, the two wounded officers gave nearly identical accounts of the shooting. The officers, one the police commander, were interviewed separately.
NYT | Aug 11, 2011 - read full report
