JALALABAD, 29 November 2004 — A little girl was shot dead yesterday during protests by thousands of tribesmen in eastern Afghanistan against detentions by US-led forces, officials said.
Up to 6,000 protesters blocked about five km of the main road link from the eastern city of Jalalabad to Pakistan to protest against the arrest of several locals, including a woman, late Friday, police said.
Faizanulhaq, a spokesman for the provincial government, said there had been some shooting during the protest in Bati Kot district in which a child died and a protester was wounded, but security forces had not been involved. “The child was not from among the protesters,” he said. “It’s not clear who fired the bullet that killed her, but it did not come from the security forces,” he said.
The Afghan Islamic Press quoted Bati Kot district chief Sayed Rehman as saying that a young girl, was killed in an exchange of fire between the protesters and guards of a Pakistani firm working to upgrade the highway.
The protesters had attacked the offices of the firm and broken some windows, he said. The protesters were mainly ethnic Pashtuns from the Shinwari and Mohmand tribes. Provincial police chief Hazrat Ali said they dispersed after being told that three people detained by US-led forces, including the woman, had been released.
