Afghans take to the streets against deadly US airstrike

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Afghanistan’s eastern Jalalabad city on Wednesday, against the alleged killing of 16 civilians in a U.S. airstrike last week.

Chanting “death to America” slogans, they gathered outside the provincial administration building in downtown Jalalabad.

They urged the Afghan government, and the U.S.-led Resolute Support Mission (RSM) in Afghanistan to thoroughly investigate the airstrike, and stop such incidents from recurring.

“The militants are killing us on one side, and now foreign forces are bombarding us. We have nowhere to escape from death,” Naveed Shinwari, one of the protesters said.

Members of the provincial council also joined the demonstration.

Zabihullah Zmaray, member of the provincial council, speaking to Anadolu Agency from the protest site over the phone, said: “We are fed-up. Our innocent civilians are getting killed every other day.”

“If this does not stop we will close down the main highway linking the province with the capital and other provinces,” he added.

Officials in Jalalabad admit that some civilians were injured in Haska Maina district in Nangarhar province last Thursday during the air raid.

However, U.S. Forces in Afghanistan claim only Daesh militants were targeted in the attack.

Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial government, promised to investigate the matter, saying he had received reports of civilians being killed and wounded in the area.

Last week, Bob Purtiman, spokesman for the U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, said the strike was conducted in “an open terrain and there was zero chances of civilian casualties”.

Lying between the Afghan capital Kabul and Pakistan’s restive tribal belt, Nangarhar is marred by pro-Daesh as well as Taliban-led insurgency.