KABUL — Western troops traveling through the capital of Afghanistan in a military convoy Thursday shot to death an Islamic cleric, apparently mistaking him for a would-be suicide bomber, officials and witnesses said.
NATO acknowledged its forces had fired on what appeared to be a “threatening vehicle” and expressed regret over the death. Afghan police said two of the cleric’s children were in the car with him, but they were unhurt.
The incident took place hours before Afghan President Hamid Karzai, speaking to a major security conference in London, urged that greater care be taken when foreign troops come into contact with civilians.
The fatal shooting, which occurred during morning rush hour, took place close to a U.S. military base on the city’s eastern edge that had been the scene of a suicide car bombing two days earlier. Eight Western troops and at least half a dozen Afghan civilians were injured in that blast, outside an installation known as Camp Phoenix.
After Thursday’s shooting, protesters staged a small but angry demonstration near the gates of the base, blocking traffic and shouting anti-American slogans.
The victim was identified by authorities as Mullah Mohammad Yunus, an imam, or mosque preacher. Relatives said he was on his way to a nearby madrassa, or religious seminary, at the time of the shooting. Los Angeles Times
