Artillery fire from ANA base kills 4 Logar children

PUL-I-ALAM (Pajhwok): Four children have been killed in an artillery fire by security forces in Baraki Barak district of central Logar province, local residents claimed on Tuesday.

Government officials confirmed the incident, but denied security forces had fire the mortar.

Residents of Deh Shaik locality brought dead bodies of four children to the Governor’s House in protest and claimed the artillery shell was fired from an Afghan National Army (ANA) base.

Baraki Barak district is situated 18 kilometres south of Pul-i-Alam, the provincial capital.

Zmarai, a resident, said the artillery shell that killed four children in their village had been fired from the ANA base.

He said they wanted officials to investigate the incident and punish those responsible.

Attaullah, another resident, said: “Common people are victims of the war sometimes Taliban kill us and sometimes security forces. What should we do and where should we go? See the innocent bodies we have brought here.”

“We want justice for our slain children and we want soldiers involved in this crime to be punished otherwise they will keep protesting,” he said.

The Baraki Barak district chief, Ahmad Wais Abdul Rahimzai, said the four children were collecting woods on a hillside in Deh Shikh locality when an artillery shell landed nearby and killed four of them.

He added it was not known as yet who fired by the shell and asked the protesting residents to shift the bodies to their village and pledged to investigate the incident.

Nh/ma

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