Thousands of Afghans blocked a key road between Afghanistan and Pakistan on Sunday to demand the release of local people arrested by U.S. forces in raids on suspected al Qaeda hideouts. The protesters blocked a five km (three mile) stretch of the main road that leads from the eastern city of Jalalabad to the border crossing with Pakistan at Torkhum, provincial police chief Hazrat Ali told Reuters. He said the protest was in the Bati Kot district of Nangarhar province, where the demonstrators complained that U.S. forces arrested a group of locals, including a woman, a week earlier. Ali estimated the number of demonstrators between 5,000 and 6,000 and said they were vowing to continue their protest until the locals were freed.
U.S.-led forces mounted raids on suspected al Qaeda hideouts in Bati Kot a week ago and said several Arab fighters were among four militants killed and others captured. The U.S. military said the raids also led to the seizure of weapons, explosives, cash and other materials, but has not identified the Arab fighters. Local officials said at the time that five people had been arrested, and identified them as a villager named Sayed Rahman and his sons. |