U.S. fire scatters crowd after Afghan bomb-witness
(Updates with details, quotes throughout)
By Noor Mohammad Sherzai
BATI KOT, Afghanistan, Sept 27 (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier opened fire scattering a crowd of civilians and police near the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Thursday after a failed suicide car bomb attack on a U.S. military convoy, the U.S. military and witnesses said.
Three suicide bombers in one vehicle attacked a U.S. convoy in the village of Bati Kot, 15 km (9 miles) east of Jalalabad, but none of the soldiers was hurt.
Two of the bombers were killed immediately in the blast. The third, dressed in a police uniform, survived only to be shot dead by troops, the U.S. military and a Reuters witness said.
A fire brigade vehicle speeding to the scene then rammed into the U.S. and Afghan vehicles.
"I saw everything," said Reuters correspondent Noor Mohammad Sherzai. "I saw the suicide bomb attack ...
"I saw the fire brigade vehicle rushing to the area at top speed. Somehow its brakes failed and hit one police vehicle and coalition vehicles, then the Americans started firing," he said.
A spokesman for U.S.-led coalition forces said only one soldier had opened fire. "A U.S. servicemen fired two shots and those shots were away from the crowd and not directed toward the crowd," said Major Joe Klopple.
Sherzai and other reporters at the scene said many shots were fired and Afghan police were among those fleeing the scene.
"I was running away as fast as I could, but some of the police overtook me," Sherzai said. The police, he said, "were very angry because the Americans were shooting and wanted to shoot back but others stopped them".
"A bullet hit the ground between my legs while I was running," said Takiullah Taki, a cameraman for private Afghan channel Tolo TV. "Some Afghan national police wanted to shoot back, but others said that would make the situation deteriorate further so they did not."
Sherzai said he later saw two people being taken away in an ambulance.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide attack.
Afghans staged angry protests in Jalalabad in March after U.S. Marines killed at least 10 civilians there following a suicide bomb attack.
Elsewhere, two Danish soldiers were killed in an attack on a forward operating base near the town of Gereshk in the southern province of Helmand overnight, a British military spokesman said. Another Danish soldier was also wounded in the attack.
British troops launched a large operation north of Gereshk last week to clear Taliban rebels from the area. U.S. troops said they had killed scores of Taliban insurgents in the last few days in operations in Helmand and neighbouring Uruzgan province.
Afghanistan's Interior Ministry said on Thursday police had captured Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf. But Yousuf called a Reuters reporter and denied he had been detained.
"I'm here in this room. I'm free," he said. (Additional reporting by Hamid Shalizi in Kabul and Sayed Salahuddin in Gereshk)
By Noor Mohammad Sherzai
BATI KOT, Afghanistan, Sept 27 (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier opened fire scattering a crowd of civilians and police near the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Thursday after a failed suicide car bomb attack on a U.S. military convoy, the U.S. military and witnesses said.
Three suicide bombers in one vehicle attacked a U.S. convoy in the village of Bati Kot, 15 km (9 miles) east of Jalalabad, but none of the soldiers was hurt.
Two of the bombers were killed immediately in the blast. The third, dressed in a police uniform, survived only to be shot dead by troops, the U.S. military and a Reuters witness said.
A fire brigade vehicle speeding to the scene then rammed into the U.S. and Afghan vehicles.
"I saw everything," said Reuters correspondent Noor Mohammad Sherzai. "I saw the suicide bomb attack ...
"I saw the fire brigade vehicle rushing to the area at top speed. Somehow its brakes failed and hit one police vehicle and coalition vehicles, then the Americans started firing," he said.
A spokesman for U.S.-led coalition forces said only one soldier had opened fire. "A U.S. servicemen fired two shots and those shots were away from the crowd and not directed toward the crowd," said Major Joe Klopple.
Sherzai and other reporters at the scene said many shots were fired and Afghan police were among those fleeing the scene.
"I was running away as fast as I could, but some of the police overtook me," Sherzai said. The police, he said, "were very angry because the Americans were shooting and wanted to shoot back but others stopped them".
"A bullet hit the ground between my legs while I was running," said Takiullah Taki, a cameraman for private Afghan channel Tolo TV. "Some Afghan national police wanted to shoot back, but others said that would make the situation deteriorate further so they did not."
Sherzai said he later saw two people being taken away in an ambulance.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide attack.
Afghans staged angry protests in Jalalabad in March after U.S. Marines killed at least 10 civilians there following a suicide bomb attack.
Elsewhere, two Danish soldiers were killed in an attack on a forward operating base near the town of Gereshk in the southern province of Helmand overnight, a British military spokesman said. Another Danish soldier was also wounded in the attack.
British troops launched a large operation north of Gereshk last week to clear Taliban rebels from the area. U.S. troops said they had killed scores of Taliban insurgents in the last few days in operations in Helmand and neighbouring Uruzgan province.
Afghanistan's Interior Ministry said on Thursday police had captured Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf. But Yousuf called a Reuters reporter and denied he had been detained.
"I'm here in this room. I'm free," he said. (Additional reporting by Hamid Shalizi in Kabul and Sayed Salahuddin in Gereshk)
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