NATO soldiers kill Afghan civilian

This video from Democracy Now! in the USA is about civilian victims in Afghanistan.

From the Canadian Press:

Canadian convoy fires on taxi in Kandahar; 1 killed, 10 wounded

Fri, 2007-11-16 14:38.

By: Bill Graveland

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – An Afghan civilian was killed and a second seriously injured when Canadian troops fired on a taxi that ignored visual warning signs to stop, military officials said Friday. …

It is common to see cars in Kandahar drive into the ditch when a convoy goes through.

This week’s incident was likely to inflame tensions between the public and coalition forces.

A spate of civilian shootings last winter contributed to a backlash against NATO troops.

And a protest in late September saw Afghans in the Zhari district spill into the street to chant “Death to Canada.”

Although known Taliban sympathizers were part of that crowd, ongoing civilian deaths, including the shooting of a man and the wounding of an eight-year-old child on Oct. 2, have angered ordinary citizens in Kandahar.

The rising number of civilian casualties has prompted calls in the past from the Afghan National Police to have military convoys escorted by local authorities.

The proposal would require the Canadians to share convoy times and routes with Afghan authorities, something that makes the military nervous because of security concerns.

Also from Canada, from the Globe and Mail:

THE AFGHAN MISSION: PRISONER ABUSE

Canada violating Geneva treaty, MPs say

Opposition accuses government of hiding reports, presses demand for immediate end to detainee transfers

ALAN FREEMAN

November 17, 2007

OTTAWA — Opposition MPs have called on the government to order the Canadian Forces to halt the transfer of detainees to the Afghan government, alleging that Canada has violated the Geneva Conventions by permitting prisoner abuse to continue.

Many of the children who died in Afghanistan’s worst-ever suicide attack were actually shot dead by bodyguards who fired indiscriminately into the crowd after the blast, a UN report said: here.