Home
News
In Focus
Business
Metro
Nation
World
Sports
Feature
Opinion
View more »Opinion Columns
Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
Restaurants get off to a quick start thanks to game-changing policies
High service charges on event ticket refunds call for further regulation
Sunday
- Subscribe
Related News
US troops accused of blast attack at bazaar
Source: Agencies |
June 10, 2009, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AN explosion in a crowded bazaar near a convoy of United States Army troops in northeastern Afghanistan killed one Afghan teenager yesterday and wounded more than 50 people, many of them children, officials said.
Three US troops were wounded in the blast.
A US military spokesman said someone in a nearby building threw a grenade into the crowd in Asadabad, the capital of Kunar province, but witnesses and the spokesman for Afghanistan's Education Ministry alleged that US troops threw a grenade.
Police did not confirm those claims and the provincial governor said US troops had shown him fragments of a Russian-made grenade.
US military spokesman Chief Petty Officer Brian Naranjo said that as soon as US officials heard allegations that an American soldier may have thrown a grenade, the officials "immediately went back to the operational people and very seriously went through and looked for any possibility that it could have been thrown by a coalition member."
"Based on everything we saw, that grenade was not one of ours," Naranjo said. "It was thrown by someone from a building nearby."
A US statement said the American troops - who are in the country to help train the Afghan army - also came under gunfire attack. Three soldiers were wounded in the attack, Naranjo said.
A 14-year-old boy - a student at a madrassa, or religious school - died in the attack, said Essanullah Fazli, the chief of Asadabad's hospital. He said most of the wounded suffered light injuries.
A doctor said 54 Afghans were wounded in the blast and many were children from a nearby school. Education officials said about 15 children were wounded.
The explosion took place in a crowded bazaar near a school and mosque. Afghan officials said the American convoy had broken down because of a flat tire and a crowd had gathered.
American officials say Taliban militants purposely try to cause civilian casualties that can be blamed on US forces as a propaganda tool to turn ordinary Afghans against the international military effort.
Three US troops were wounded in the blast.
A US military spokesman said someone in a nearby building threw a grenade into the crowd in Asadabad, the capital of Kunar province, but witnesses and the spokesman for Afghanistan's Education Ministry alleged that US troops threw a grenade.
Police did not confirm those claims and the provincial governor said US troops had shown him fragments of a Russian-made grenade.
US military spokesman Chief Petty Officer Brian Naranjo said that as soon as US officials heard allegations that an American soldier may have thrown a grenade, the officials "immediately went back to the operational people and very seriously went through and looked for any possibility that it could have been thrown by a coalition member."
"Based on everything we saw, that grenade was not one of ours," Naranjo said. "It was thrown by someone from a building nearby."
A US statement said the American troops - who are in the country to help train the Afghan army - also came under gunfire attack. Three soldiers were wounded in the attack, Naranjo said.
A 14-year-old boy - a student at a madrassa, or religious school - died in the attack, said Essanullah Fazli, the chief of Asadabad's hospital. He said most of the wounded suffered light injuries.
A doctor said 54 Afghans were wounded in the blast and many were children from a nearby school. Education officials said about 15 children were wounded.
The explosion took place in a crowded bazaar near a school and mosque. Afghan officials said the American convoy had broken down because of a flat tire and a crowd had gathered.
American officials say Taliban militants purposely try to cause civilian casualties that can be blamed on US forces as a propaganda tool to turn ordinary Afghans against the international military effort.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
