afgan flaring up big time

'Five dead' in Afghan rioting

Monday, May 29, 2006; Posted: 7:20 a.m. EDT (11:20 GMT)

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Demonstrators throw stones at a coalition military vehicle in Kabul.
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A protest over a U.S. military accident erupts into rioting and gunfire. (1:12)
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- At least five people were killed and 60 injured when a deadly traffic accident Monday involving U.S. troops sparked the worst riot in the Afghan capital since the fall of the Taliban regime, officials said.

Hundreds of protesters looted shops and shouted "Death to America!" Hundreds of Afghan army troops and NATO peacekeepers in tanks deployed around the city, as chanting protesters marched on the presidential palace and rioters smashed police guard boxes and set fire to police cars.

Rioters ransacked several buildings, including a sprawling compound belonging to the international aid group CARE International.

Computers were set on fire on the street outside and smoke billowed from inside the buildings, according to an Associated Press reporter.

Elsewhere, the reporter saw several demonstrators pull a man from a civilian vehicle and beat him. The man escaped and ran to a line of police, who fired shots over the heads of the demonstrators.

The riot was the worst in Kabul since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban in late 2001. It erupted in the city's northern suburbs before spreading into the city center and then to other areas frequented with foreigners, including areas near U.S. and NATO bases.

Abdullah Fahim, Health Ministry spokesman, said that five bodies were brought to hospitals in Kabul and 60 more Afghans were treated for injuries.

He said there were no foreigners among the wounded or dead. He had no details on how the casualties occurred, and it was not immediately clear if the toll included people from the traffic accident, that the U.S. military said left at least one person dead and six injured.