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Old 07-26-2005, 01:12 PM
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Default Protests At Main U.S. Afghan Base

U.S. and Afghan troops fired warning shots after more than 1,000 protesters chanting "Die America!" threw stones at a U.S. military convoy and at the main U.S. base in Afghanistan to demand the release of eight villagers detained in a raid.

Afghan troops used batons to beat back the protesters as they tried to push down the base's outer gate, as black smoke from burning tires billowed across the area.

In other developments:


Fighting between Taliban rebels and U.S. and Afghan forces killed about 50 suspected militants and two Afghan soldiers, in the deadliest clashes in weeks ahead of crucial legislative elections, a provincial governor said Tuesday. A U.S. military statement issued Monday said that heavy fighting in Uruzgan province's Dihrawud district had killed one American service member, an Afghan soldier and 11 rebels. Three U.S. troops and one Afghan soldier were also wounded, it said.


Police arrested 10 suspected Taliban insurgents after clashes in southeastern Zabul province, said a spokesman for the provincial governor.


In eastern Paktika province Tuesday, a candidate in the upcoming legislative elections was killed when a roadside bomb blew up next to his vehicle as he was taking his sick mother to hospital, local police chief Malik Khan said. The mother was wounded.

The violence in Bagram erupted after six U.S. military vehicles traveling in a convoy tried to enter the base. The protesters threw stones at them before troops inside the cars leaned out their windows and fired into the air with handguns.

The vehicles then sped into the base and the demonstrators chased them, trying to push down a metal gate guarded by Afghan forces. The soldiers used sticks to beat back the protesters and several fired into the air with their assault rifles as they shouted at the protesters to go home. Most dispersed.

The eight who were arrested were "suspected of planning and conducting attacks against U.S. and Afghan forces," the U.S. military said in a statement.

"The detained individuals had materials used to make improvised explosive devices in their possession and are thought to be planning future attacks against coalition forces," it said.

The demonstrators said they were angry with the Americans for arresting the eight in a raid without first consulting local authorities.

"We have supported the Americans for years. We should be treated with dignity," said Shah Aghar, 35, a local resident. "They are arresting our people without the permission of the government. They are breaking into our houses and offending the people. We are very angry."

Another local resident, Abdul Rahman, said that if the U.S. forces continue to raid people's houses, the Afghans would launch a "holy war against them as we did against the Soviets and Taliban."

The U.S. statement said the military tried to contact local authorities before the raid, but were unable to do so.

An Associated Press reporter was hit with a stone after some protesters accused him of working for the Americans, while an AP photographer was punched in the face.

The protest came two weeks after four suspected Arab terrorists escaped from the main detention facility at Bagram, sparking a massive manhunt.

Hundreds of local residents are employed at the base to clean, construct buildings and do other jobs and there has been little violence in the area since U.S. forces took control of the base shortly after ousting the Taliban in 2001.

Thousands of U.S. and coalition soldiers live at the base, which is surrounded by several razor-wire fences and areas outside the perimeter remain mined from Afghanistan's civil war and Soviet occupation. Military teams patrol constantly and the main entrance is a series of heavily guarded checkpoints.
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