Afghans Call for Trial of U.S. Troops

A special session of Afghanistan’s parliament Tuesday called for the prosecution of U.S. troops involved in a fatal traffic accident that sparked hours of intense rioting here.

“Those who are responsible for Monday’s incident must be investigated and prosecuted,” said a statement from the speaker of parliament’s lower house, Younis Qanooni, which was read over state-run television Tuesday night.

Members of the upper and lower houses of the Afghan parliament, chosen in landmark elections last fall, met all day to discuss the events that sent waves of panic across the capital.

The explosion of rage triggered by a road accident bared a growing resentment among many Afghans that U.S. forces have run roughshod over the civilian population, and that reconstruction efforts have failed to address the basic needs of the average Afghan.

President Hamid Karzai and others have issued repeated calls for U.S. troops to moderate their tactics against Taliban militants, saying that airstrikes that have killed and injured civilians undermine his efforts at reconciliation after years of civil war.

Monday’s rioting was so intense that several embassies went into crisis mode. Staff at the U.S. Embassy compound spent 90 minutes in bunkers while other embassies sent vehicles with armed escorts to bring foreign citizens to rallying points in case they had to be airlifted to safety.

But Afghan troops had restored order by sunset Monday, and after a nighttime curfew lifted, the capital was quiet Tuesday. U.S. and other foreign troops stayed off Kabul’s streets to help defuse tensions.

The U.S. military reported that at least one person was killed in the accident, while Karzai’s office put the number of fatalities at five. After thousands of people rampaged through the capital for several hours, the death toll rose to at least 11.

The U.S. military is investigating the accident, but initially said it appeared a mechanical failure had caused a large cargo truck to crash into as many as 12 civilian vehicles around 8 a.m. Monday.

U.S. military convoys and civilian contractors routinely move at high speed, drive aggressively through traffic and use the middle of the road in an effort to avoid roadside bombs or suicide attackers. But to many Afghans left in the dust, or worse, such tactics come across as foreign arrogance.

Witnesses said U.S. troops fired into a crowd of angry Afghans who were trying to stop the convoy as it left the scene of the accident.

A U.S. military statement said “there are indications that at least one coalition military vehicle fired warning shots over the crowd.” The witness accounts are under investigation by Afghan and American authorities.

Parliament also wants the U.S. to compensate the owners of several vehicles damaged in the traffic accident and said Afghans who looted and burned private property, stole from aid agencies and destroyed government offices “should also be found and prosecuted,” said Qanooni, who was a leading challenger to Karzai in 2004 presidential elections.

Police arrested 160 people during the riots, the Afghan Interior Ministry said.

Afghan soldiers, some with armored vehicles, took up positions throughout the capital Tuesday to deter troublemakers. Foreign faces were scarce on the streets, and most shops and businesses were closed as workers swept up shattered windows and the debris of torched buildings.

Rioters looted and burned several offices of the United Nations and foreign aid agencies, including U.S.-based CARE International, which has provided support to Afghans throughout decades of war.