Anti-US riots in Afghanistan

Afghan Death Toll Hits 8 Amid Unrest
More than 100 are injured, some in a U.S. vehicle accident but most in ensuing riots. Mobs attack U.N. and foreign aid offices.
By Wesal Zaman and Paul Watson
Special to The LA Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — In the capital's worst unrest since the fall of the Taliban 4 1/2 years ago, Afghan mobs fought running battles Monday with troops and police trying to quell riots sparked when U.S. military vehicles fled the scene of a fatal accident.

At least eight people were killed and more than 100 injured, most in the rioting that followed an early-morning traffic accident involving a convoy of U.S. military vehicles, Afghan officials said.

Rioters attacked the offices of the United Nations and foreign aid agencies, looting computers, books, desks and even shoes.

They also set fire to numerous police checkpoints across Kabul. As the mobs continued to run amok in midafternoon, a pall of smoke hung over some districts of the capital.

Protesters shouted, "Death to America!" and in a local epithet, "Death to Dog Washers!" They also condemned President Hamid Karzai and the former Afghan king, Mohammad Zaher Shah.

Karzai, in a nationally televised speech, described the rioters as agitators and "the enemy of Afghanistan" and urged Afghans to resist their efforts to foment violence.

(The rest is here.)