Logar governor orders probe into civilian deaths

PUL-I-ALAM (Pajhwok): The governor of central Logar province on Tuesday said an investigation into the alleged killing of four civilians by American forces had been opened.

Provincial council (PC) chief Hasibullah Stanikzai on Monday accused the American forces of killing four civilians and injuring another 15 after a roadside bomb ripped through one of their vehicles near the provincial capital, Pul-iAlam, on Sunday.

Stanikzai told Pajhwok Afghan News the US forces opened indiscriminate firing at civilians after the blast in Honi Saydan area, causing civilian causalities.

The foreign troops also entered local residences and dislodged some civilians from their homes, he said, an allegation confirmed by a resident of Honi Saydan village, Sayed Baryalai.

 “A roadside bomb hit US forces convoy on Sunday here and after the explosion, the foreign soldiers opened fire at innocent people and some were killed.”

The governor’s spokesman, Salim Saleh, who a day earlier confirmed the bomb attack, but said he was unaware of civilian causalities, on Tuesday said the bomb hit an Afghan forces vehicle during a joint operation with US forces.

After the blast, he said, the foreign and Afghan forces were engaged in a firefight that also resulted in civilian causalities.

He said Govenror Mohammad Halim Fidai during a meeting with family members of the victims, assured them of impartial investigation into the incident.

The governor tasked a 13-member commission headed by the PC head to investigate the incident.

Officials at the governor’s house, police, National Directorate of Security (NDS activists, religious scholars and representatives of the locality were other members of the commission.

The provincial government spokesman accused insurgents of ambushing and firing at security forces from civilian homes, mosques and private properties which leads to the loss of innocent lives.

US forces public relations department in Kabul confirmed the incident to Pajhwok Afghan News but said nothing about causalities.

nh/ma