| Page 2 of 2 < |
Shaken by Riots, Afghans Gripped By Uncertainty
Paul Barker, CARE's country director, said the attack cost the agency three years of records and destroyed its administration. He said most of the attackers appeared to be boys caught up in the "excitement of looting and burning," but that other, more serious motives were at work.
"I think this reflects the frustration and anger some Afghans feel, and they were looking for symbols of foreign presence," he said. "The tolerance for U.S. military mistakes has become strained to the breaking point in a lot of people."
  Afghans, including this man carrying glass, worked to clean up Kabul after rioters destroyed buildings such as the burned-out Chinese restaurant behind him. (By Musadeq Sadeq -- Associated Press) |
Many Afghans have welcomed the thousands of U.S. troops stationed here, but there have been signs that the welcome is wearing thin. Residents have often criticized foreign military forces for driving powerful vehicles too aggressively, and there has been growing concern about civilian casualties from U.S. attacks on Taliban insurgents.
Two weeks ago, a U.S. airstrike in Kandahar province killed 15 residents in houses where Taliban fighters were hiding. Clashes in southern Afghanistan have caused more than 300 deaths in the past month.
In Kabul, residents and business owners said many policemen fled from their posts when armed rioters approached, and that few security personnel were visible on the streets until the violence had dissipated.
A spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force, which normally patrols the capital in armored vehicles, said it had been ready to help restore order Monday but that the Afghan authorities had asked the force not to do so.
"The government insisted, and we agreed, that we would remain in the background out of concern that our presence might inflame an already volatile situation," said Maj. Toby Jackman, a British spokesman for ISAF. "We remained poised all over the city, but we didn't want to pour water on an oily fire."
The Ministry of Public Health released a list of known casualties totaling 13 dead and 130 injured. Television stations frequently replayed a statement made by President Hamid Karzai late Monday saying that any further violence would be dealt with severely.
There were reports that some of the street violence was organized by anti-government groups.
Numerous witnesses said some rioters were older men who gave orders, carried AK-47 assault rifles and wore the dress of former anti-Soviet militia fighters whose political leaders oppose Karzai.
There were also indications of moral fervor in the crowds' actions. In this conservative Muslim country, many people are offended by Western lifestyles. Several restaurants reputed to employ prostitutes were damaged, and a major movie house took down its posters for fear of being attacked.
Outside Kabul's Emergency Hospital, there was a mood of barely contained rage among people waiting to visit their wounded relatives. In a crowd of two dozen men, none said they believed the U.S. military version of the Monday accident.
"After they hit all the cars, they got scared and just started shooting people," said a man who gave his name as Aziz, 43. He said his family lived near the accident scene and that his brother had come outside and been shot three times in the abdomen. "It was wrong what the people did in the streets, but it was the Americans' fault," he said. "They came here to protect us, but it is we who suffer."
