In memory of

Two civilians

in early morning of March 19, 2009

in the Bati Kot district of Nangarhar Province. Rafeeq Shirzad of Reuters (not the Associated Press!) wrote

The early morning raid was aimed at disabling an al Qaeda cell of bomb-makers and planners in Bati Kot district in Nangarhar province, 140 km (90 miles) east of the capital Kabul, the U.S. military said in a statement. "Two armed militants engaged the force and were killed, a total of four suspected militants were detained," it said. But district governor Khaibar Momand condemned the killings, saying the victims were civilians and that the operation had not been coordinated with Afghan troops. About 100 residents gathered to protest against the killings, saying they would not bury the bodies until they received an explanation. Four houses were also destroyed in the raid, residents told Reuters. "It is better to join the Taliban than be neutral and be victimized," one resident named Rahmatullah said. "Foreign forces are not here for our security, they capture civilians in the middle of the night and kill them. The government is useless and we won't ask anything from it. We can take our own revenge ourselves," he said.

The photo below (@ Reuters) sows Afghans gathered around the body of a man killed in the overnight raid:

The following photo taken by Abdul Moheed Hashemi of the independent Pajhwok Afghan News shows the dead local civilians killed by U.S occupation forces:

Killed by U.S-led forces in an early morning raid