By Pamela Constable
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, May 31, 2006; A10
KABUL, May 30 -- Afghan army troops blanketed the capital Tuesday, schools and shops reopened and residents swept up the debris from riots that left 11 people dead and 130 injured. Many people remained angry both at the rioters and U.S. troops, and worried about permanent damage to the country's faltering democracy, economy and relations with the outside world.
Foreign peacekeeping troops kept off the streets, out of concern their presence would ignite new violence.
Monday's violence was sparked by a traffic accident involving a U.S. military convoy, and some residents continued to insist that American troops shot dozens of civilians while leaving the chaotic accident scene.
"The foreign soldiers shot my cousin, and now he is in a coma. They have brought us nothing but destruction. People are still poor and jobless, except the few who shine the foreigners' shoes. We want them out of here now," said Shah Mahmoud, 24, who was visiting the city hospital. He said his cousin, 17, worked near the accident site and was shot when he got caught up in an angry crowd that threw stones at the troops.
The U.S. military has said one civilian was killed when a military cargo truck smashed into a line of vehicles. It has promised a full investigation, but denied that troops shot anyone afterward.
In new violence, three Afghan workers for a South African charity, ActionAid, were shot dead Tuesday by a gunman riding a motorcycle as they drove on a road in Jowzjan province in northern Afghanistan, officials said.
Some business owners in Kabul said they had lost thousands of dollars worth of merchandise and regretted having taken the risk to invest in such a volatile environment. They said Afghan and international security forces had done little to protect their property.
Ali Chelsi, whose family owns a market in a fashionable shopping district, said the family had just ordered three shipping containers of home appliances from China, a major purchase based on expectations of growing affluence and foreign investment. "It will take us a month to get our business going again, and if the security situation doesn't improve, there will be no need for such appliances in Kabul," said Chelsi, as his nephew swept up shards of glass from their shattered picture window.
Other investors vowed to stay the course, saying they would not allow one day of violence to derail their plans. One was Ehsan Bayat, an Afghan American businessman who owns a major cellphone company and a new private television station here. A mob attacked the station Monday and burned all the cars in its parking lot.
"I am committed to rebuilding Afghanistan, and I will invest more now in humanitarian projects," Bayat said. "If we give up now, tomorrow will be very bleak."
The riots were the worst the capital has experienced since the overthrow of the Taliban in late 2001. Other incidents, including the discovery of an Afghan Christian convert and the news of anti-Islamic cartoons published in Europe, have sparked demonstrations in Afghan cities, but none was as large or violent.
The most seriously damaged building was the headquarters of CARE International, which rioters doused with gasoline and then burned to rubble. The compound's rose garden, surrounded by tall pines, was burned black. A half-dozen other foreign aid agencies were also attacked and looted.
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."
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."
