AFGHANISTAN: Afghans demonstrate against foreign troops they say killed two islamic clerics

Afghans demonstrate against foreign troops, saying they killed two Islamic clerics in Kandahar and carried out house searches in the area. Some 1,000 Afghans protested on Wednesday (September 26) against foreign troops they say carried out house search operations in southern Kandahar's Zhari district and allegedly killed two Islamic clerics there overnight. During funerals for the two clerics in Kandahar, angry villagers chanted slogans denouncing foreign troops and President Hamid Karzai. "We have gathered here against foreign troops which search our houses during the night and harm our females," said protester said Habib Khan. "For instance last night they took away two of our villagers from their homes and killed them without any charges. They (the foreign troops) also took eight other villagers and their destinies are unclear. We don't know where they are." The Zhari district chief said foreign forces must coordinate military and search operations with Afghan forces in order to avoid misunderstanding. Locals will arm themselves if this isn't done, he said. Meanwhile, U.S.-led coalition and Afghan forces killed scores of Taliban insurgents in two separate battles in southern Afghanistan, the U.S military said. More than 65 Taliban were killed in one of the clashes on Tuesday (September 25) night in Deh Rawud district of Uruzgan province, the U.S. military said in a statement. Several dozen more insurgents were killed in Musa Qala district of neighbouring Helmand province since Tuesday in addition to more than 60 reported earlier, it said in another statement. The Taliban could not be reached for comment immediately, but the group in the past has rejected its losses reported by the Afghan government and foreign troops, calling them propaganda. Several provincial officials and residents told a Reuters reporter in the south that some civilians were also killed during the battles, which involved air raids. Helmand, a long, fertile river valley cutting through parched barren desert, has been the scene of some of the fiercest fighting in Afghanistan since the Taliban began recovering from their ouster in 2001 and resumed large-scale attacks two years ago. Now coalition forces are trying to reassert control. Afghanistan has seen a sharp escalation in violence over the past 19 months, the bloodiest period since Taliban's ouster. More than 7,000 people have been killed during that period, mostly in southern and eastern areas where the militants are largely active.

ITN Source | September 26, 2007

Tags:. .News Archive. .protested. .valley. .islamic. .females