http://alethonews.wordpress.com/2010/08/18/massive-anti-us-rally-held-in-afghanistan/
In eastern Afghanistan, hundreds of people have taken to the streets to protest against the mounting civilian death toll in US-led raids in the war-torn country.
Some 600 demonstrators blocked the main highway linking the Capital, Kabul and the eastern city of Jalalabad on Wednesday. The protesters were chanting slogans against the growing foreign presence in the country and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
An Afghan father and his son were killed when their house in Nangahar Province was stormed overnight by NATO soldiers, triggering an outcry that led to the demonstrations.
The US-led forces in the country say they killed two militants in the operation, a claim local villagers have firmly rejected.
Earlier this week, a similar rally was held in the eastern province of Wardak.
A UN report published earlier this week said that 386 civilians were killed by NATO or Afghan forces in the first six months of 2010.
On Monday, at least five Afghan civilians, including a woman and her three children, were killed after a NATO supply vehicle hit their motorcycle in southern Afghanistan. According to Afghan officials, the accident took place on a road in Helmand province, a Press TV correspondent reported Sunday.
Civilians have been the main victims of violence in Afghanistan, particularly in the country’s troubled southern and eastern provinces. The issue of civilian casualties has caused friction between Washington and the Karzai government in Kabul.
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