Afghan protest turns into deadly street battle, 2 die
KABUL, Afghanistan — An anti-government protest spiraled into a deadly street battle Friday, with security forces opening fire and using armored vehicles to chase demonstrators angered by a massive truck bombing earlier this week.
At least two demonstrators were killed, according to police, one of whom was reported to be the son of a legislator.
A member of Parliament from Kabul said eight protesters were shot and killed by government security forces, but Kabul’s police chief said two protesters were killed, and that 25 police officers were wounded by rocks thrown from demonstrators.
The melee lasted several hours and shut down central Kabul.
Thousands of people converged on the site of Wednesday’s blast in Kabul’s diplomatic zone, shouting chants against President Ashraf Ghani and hoisting banners with gruesome photographs from the bombing. The attack left at least 90 dead and 450 injured.
Most of the casualties from the truck bombing were civilians, including women and children, officials have said. But the dead also included Afghan security guards at the facilities, including the U.S. Embassy, and 11 American contractors were wounded — none with life-threatening injuries, a U.S. State Department official said.
Friday’s march, which included professionals, students and civic activists, remained largely peaceful until one group of protesters tried to reach the gates of Ghani’s palace three blocks away.
Security forces opened fire with mostly warning shots in the air, but protesters and others claimed that the gunfire caused casualties. One body was taken to a hospital, leaving a large pool of blood.
Another group pelted stones at lines of riot police around the blast site. Then army vehicles moved in, chasing protesters and firing heavy barrages of shots, mostly into the air.
The tumult died down briefly when the call to prayer sounded around 1:30 p.m., but it resumed afterward with gunfire and sirens heard for hours.
Relatives and associates confirmed that the son of Mohammed Salem Ayzedyar, the deputy leader of the Afghan Senate and a senior member of the opposition Jamiat-i-Islami party, had died while taking part in the demonstrations.
The protesters kept up constant chants of “Death to Ghani,” as well as “Death to Pakistan” and “Death to America.” They burned effigies of the president and demanded that he and his government resign.
They also demanded the execution of prisoners from the Taliban and the Haqqani network, a Pakistan-based Taliban faction that many Afghans blame for many previous assaults and bombings. Ghani reportedly issued orders for some executions after the bombing, but it was not known if they had been carried out.
“We want those who did this brutal attack to be punished,” said Noor Ahmed, a 41-year-old lawyer at the protest. “They should hang the Taliban, use force, take revenge. They should do whatever it takes to stop this.”
There was no immediate public response from Ghani’s office.