Vice mayor of Kandahar, Afghanistan, fatally shot while praying in mosque

[laststeamtrain]

Source: WP

Vice mayor of Kandahar, Afghanistan, fatally shot while praying in mosque

By Rahim Faiez
Wednesday, April 21, 2010; A08

KABUL -- Insurgents killed the vice mayor of the southern Afghan city of Kandahar as he prayed at a mosque, an official said Tuesday, the latest brazen attack on a government official in a volatile region where troops are preparing for an assault on Taliban forces.

Meanwhile, NATO said one of its convoys in Khost province, on the border with Pakistan, fired on a vehicle that ignored warnings to stop Monday night, killing four people in the car.

It said two of those killed were later identified as "known insurgents," although the provincial chief of police, Abdul Hakim Hesaq Zoy, said the dead were all civilians and included a 12-year-old.

Lt. Col. Todd Vician, a NATO spokesman in Kabul, said the four were found to be unarmed.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/20/AR2010042004960.html

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Dispute Flares After NATO Convoy Kills 4 in Afghanistan
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and SHARIFULLAH SAHAK

KABUL, Afghanistan — A NATO military convoy in eastern Afghanistan shot to death four unarmed civilians in a vehicle early Monday evening, including a police officer and a 12-year-old student, Afghan officials said Tuesday.

The killings in Khost Province, near the border with Pakistan, led to a dispute almost immediately between local Afghan leaders and NATO officials. Deaths of civilians from shootings by NATO forces near convoys and at checkpoints have emerged as a particular flash point with the Afghan public and government.

“The civilians’ vehicle was driving on the road when the coalition forces opened fire on them,” said the governor of Gurbuz District, Mohammad Akbar Zadran. “There was a 12-year-old schoolboy among the dead, and a police officer named Maiwand who was also killed.”

Without offering proof, NATO described the dead as two insurgents and their “associates.” In a statement on Tuesday, NATO said the vehicle ignored warning shots and accelerated toward the military convoy. But the statement did not challenge the Afghan account that no weapons were found in the vehicle.

At least 35 civilians have been killed since last summer by NATO and American troops in such incidents — but military officials say that in no instance did the victims prove to be a danger to troops.

One week ago, American troops raked a large passenger bus with gunfire near Kandahar, killing 5 civilians and wounding as many as 18, igniting angry anti-American demonstrations.

<more>

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/21/world/asia/21khost.html

[Alamuti Lotus]

1. so much bullshit from the occupation forces, knee-jerk lying to cover up their latest act of murder

“There was a 12-year-old schoolboy among the dead, and a police officer named Maiwand who was also killed.”

Without offering proof, NATO described the dead as two insurgents and their “associates.”

According to my sources in the Pentagon and CNN, this 12-year-old schoolboy was a well-known arch-terrorist, possibly ranked #2 in the al-Qai'dah Youth Mission of Inner Khost Prefecture. Don't panic people...your government, press, banks, and military (aka the Four Limbs of One Rotting Corpse) are in full control and doing good deeds around the world.

[unhappycamper]

2. Stalin offed over 26 million Russians during his reign.

Sometimes I think we're trying to beat that record.

[Bragi]

3. The planned summer bloodbath will fix everything /nt