NATO Shot an Innocent Man
KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN: I still remember what I saw on that morning as if it were today. It was August 17, 2007, and I was driving my motorcycle to the school where I work as an English teacher. The time was 6:45 a.m. and the sun was just starting to rise.
I made a turn on a street called Alama Habibi Watt, near Zahir Shahi High School, and I saw several NATO tanks rolling along the road. They were beige in color and had machine guns and cameras mounted on top. A few people were walking in the street but not many.
The front lights of the tanks signaled everyone to step aside and give way. People here are used to tanks and know that they must let them pass first.
A young man on a bicycle stopped to allow the tanks to pass. He was wearing a light shalwar kameez and a Baluchi hat. When the NATO convoy was in front of him, the man glanced at the soldiers.
Then I heard a shot. I still don’t understand why but one of the NATO gunners sitting on top of a tank had shot the man on the bicycle in his forehead, killing him instantly.
One shot to the head and the soldiers drove away without any explanation. It all happened very quickly. When I saw this I felt scared and disheartened, so I left immediately and went to school to teach my class. I thought I could just move on and forget what I had seen. But as I talked to my students and answered their questions I felt a strange pain deep inside me. It was one of the worst days in my life.
September 8th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
My God! I don’t understand how NATO, the U.S military, or all other international forces can be of any benefit to the future of Afghanistan when we have innocent civilians being massacred on a daily basis! I mean are these guys just bored? They can’t locate these Taliban members, so they’re targeting families with shells that contain white phosphorus and shooting men point blank in the head? Why hasn’t the U.N intervened? THIS IS A HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUE! I just can’t fathom how this can be so customary in a country my parents once called home. It’s truly heartbreaking. Thanks for sharing your experience! I’m sorry you had to witness such a tragic scene…
Salamalaykum.
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