Afghans set fire to US embassy cars after deadly accident (Roundup)

Jul 30, 2010, 16:28 GMT

Kabul - A crowd set fire to two US embassy vehicles in Kabul on Friday after a traffic accident left a civilian dead, officials and witnesses said.

A military vehicle from a NATO convoy collided with an Afghan civilian's car in the centre of Kabul close to the airport on Friday afternoon, said Sayed Abdul Ghafar Sayedzada, a senior police official.

'A passenger was killed in the crash and three others were injured,' Sayed told the German Press Agency dpa. 'The accident enraged the residents in the area and they set fire to two ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) vehicles.'

However, the US embassy in Kabul said in a statement that a vehicle carrying four US contract personnel was involved in a two-car accident. It said that 'there were fatalities and serious injuries among the Afghans involved in the accident.'

Television footage showed a crowd of mostly young men shouting and throwing stones at an armoured vehicle which was in flames.

'We don't know whose fault it was,' Ahmad Munir, a resident said. 'But the fact that the foreign forces escaped from the scene after killing and injuring the innocent people angered the people.'

The rioters were prevented from marching to the nearby US embassy by Afghan security personnel, said Mohammad Haroon, another resident.

'The demonstrators have been dispersed and the situation is under control,' Sayedzada said, adding that an investigation was being launched.

Massive street violence rocked Kabul in May 2006 after a fatal accident involving a US military vehicle that hit several cars and pedestrians when the driver lost control.

The riot, the worst since fall of Taliban regime in 2001, left around 20 people dead and more than 100 injured. Among the dead were looters shot while ransacking shops, hotels and aid agency offices in the centre of the city.