Turmoil In Kandahar, Four Civilians Killed; Meanwhile, Karzai Under Pressure
Protesting in Kandahar today. (Allauddin Khan/AP) hide caption
Protesting in Kandahar today. (Allauddin Khan/AP)
Kandahar, the southern Afghan city known as the traditional home of the Taliban and the focus of what's expected to be the next U.S.-Afghan offensive against that fundamentalist militia, is in turmoil today, the Associated Press reports.
An Afghan official tells the wire service that international troops opened fire on a bus carrying Afghan civilians outside the city, killing four people. That set off anti-American protests in Kandahar. "Scores of Afghans ... blocked the main highway out of Kandahar city with burning tires, chanting 'Death to America,' and calling for the downfall of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, himself a Kandahar native," AP says.
Meanwhile, in the city of Kandahar itself, AP says that "a pair of suicide bombers attacked an Afghan intelligence services compound, but were killed after security forces opened fire on them, a local official said."
All this comes at a time, as NPR's Jackie Northam reported on Morning Edition, when Karzai is facing increasing trouble within his own government:
"Trouble has been brewing between Karzai and the Afghan Parliament since the presidential election last August. Masood Farivar, the head of Afghanistan's national radio network says many members of Parliament campaigned for Karzai.
" 'But they did not get anything in return when Karzai was selected,' Farivar adds. 'There was an expectation that some influential MPs would get senior jobs in the new administration, that did not happen. So that might have alienated some of the MPs.'
"Parliamentary elections are scheduled for September. Farivar says in this politically charged environment, many of the MPs are distancing themselves from an increasingly unpopular president -- and they're pushing back against his decisions."
Here's the audio of Jackie's story: