Afghanistan: Thousands rally against occupation

Citizens rallied in two Afghan cities on July 10 and 11, chanting slogans against occupying powers and the unpopular regime of President Hamid Karzai for failing to protect civilians. On July 10, hundreds took to the streets of Mazar-i-Sharif to demand that all occupation forces leave. The protest was organized after an artillery barrage from occupying NATO forces killed six civilians in Paktia province on July 8 and US troops killed two civilians in a pre-dawn raid in the city on July 7. Protesters chanted slogans against occupation forces and Karzai. NATO accepted responsibility for the slaughter in Paktia. It blamed the deaths on "stray" artillery, a day after acknowledging that a pre-dawn NATO helicopter air strike killed five Afghan soldiers and wounded two on July 9. The country's interior ministry had initially blamed the deaths in Paktia on a rocket fired by militants hitting a local bazaar. On July 11, about 1000 people gathered in Puli Alam city, Logar province, to express their outrage over the slaughter of 12 civilians in the south-eastern province of Paktia.