US-Led Forces Accused of Executing Schoolchildren

In Afghanistan, hundreds have taken to the streets of Kabul and elsewhere
to protest U.S. killing of civilians. The incident that has sparked the
most outrage took place in eastern Kunar on December 27th when ten
Afghans, eight of them schoolchildren, were killed. According to The Times
of London, US-led troops dragged innocent children from their beds and
shot them during a nighttime raid. Afghan government investigators said
the eight students were aged from 11 to 17, all but one of the from the
same family.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai had harsh words for US and NATO forces
on Tuesday in the wake of a string of attacks that has killed dozens of
civilians. His comments came in an interview on Al Jazeera.

On
Monday, hundreds of people, mostly students, protested in Kabul and in
the province of Nangarhar against the US killing of civilians. Nearly
30 civilians have died over the past two weeks alone in US-led
airstrikes and ground operations.

But the incident that has
sparked the most outrage took place in eastern Kunar on December 27th
when ten Afghans, eight of them schoolchildren, were killed.

According
to the Times of London, US-led troops dragged innocent children from
their beds and shot them during a nighttime raid. Afghan government
investigators said the eight students were aged from 11 to 17, all but
one of the from the same family. The headmaster of the local school
said seven of the children were handcuffed and then executed. A
preliminary investigation by the United Nations reinforced Afghan
claims that most of the dead were schoolboys.

For more we go to
Afghanistan to speak with Jerome Sparkey, he is the Times of London
correspondent in Afghanistan who reported on this story. He joins us on
the telephone from Kabul.

Jerome Starkey, the Times of London correspondent in Afghanistan.

Website: JeromeStarkey.com