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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – President Hamid Karzai says Afghan guards working for the U.S. coalition at a base in Kandahar city killed the province’s police chief.
Karzai is demanding that the coalition hand over the guards to Afghan authorities.
(BBC News) – A provincial police chief and at least eight other police have been killed in a clash with US-trained Afghan guards in Kandahar, reports say.
The clash is said to have erupted after the guards, who are employed by US special forces, tried to remove an Afghan prisoner from a civic building.
A senior provincial official said the police chief, head of the criminal department and seven officers died. But the situation remains confused, with Kandahar city closed off.
Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan is a Taliban stronghold. It is a key battleground in the fight between Taliban insurgents and the Afghan government and coalition forces.
(AFP) – It was not clear what sparked the shoot-out outside one of the offices of the attorney general in the city of Kandahar, Ahmad Wali Karzai said.
“In a shoot-out between Afghan private security guards and police, 10 policemen including Kandahar police chief Mutaiullah Khan Qateh and the criminal investigation police chief, have been killed.” The guards had been trained by US soldiers, said Karzai, a brother of President Hamid Karzai.
“This is preliminary information and we do not know as of now what exactly caused the shoot-out,” he said.
Witnesses confirmed the exchange of fire and said US soldiers were also at the scene but it was not clear if they were involved.
The US military spokesman in Kabul, Colonel Greg Julian, confirmed to AFP there had been an incident but he did not immediately have details. “I am not sure which unit was involved, it does appear that there were some Afghan police casualties.”
Let me go out on a limb and predict that the U.S. trained policemen aren’t even Pashtuns or members of any local tribe.
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Sure would like to know who the prisoners were they tried to bust! Reminds me of the British and the SAS prison bust in Basra. Kind of ugly episode, must be providence or a verse in the bible that legalizes such a massacre.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.".
(AP) – Gunfire broke out after Afghan forces moved into a heavily protected government complex in Kandahar and demanded the release of a man accused of forging documents who was being held there, said Hafizullah Khaliqyar, Kandahar’s district attorney. When the Afghan forces threatened to release the suspect by force.
A U.S. military spokesman, Chief Petty Officer Brian Naranjo, said no American military forces from any branches – including special operations forces – were present or involved in the incident. U.S. military officials do not speak for any other security branches of the government, such as the CIA.
“The incident was an Afghan-on-Afghan incident and did not involve U.S. or international personnel or equipment,” a U.S. military statement said. The area was sealed by U.S. forces after the shooting.
Later, the governor, Thoryalai Wesa, said 41 private guards had been disarmed and arrested and would be sent to Kabul for a military trial.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."