| US officials on Monday defended the arrest of a woman in eastern Afghanistan which sparked protests resulting in the death of a teenager, saying her husband was a suspected member of Al Qaeda. US soldiers detained the woman because "we thought she may have information on the whereabouts of her husband," military spokesman Major Mark McCann told AFP on Monday. McCann would not provide further details but said the woman who was held along with several male individuals was released less than 24 hours after detention in Bati Kot district outside Jalalabad. The woman's arrest late Friday prompted large protests the following day as hundreds of angry Afghans took to the streets in eastern Nangarhar province and a boy was killed during the demonstration. "We don't know exactly who fired but security forces were trying to push the demonstrators back and a 14-year-old boy was killed," Faizanul Haq, spokesman for provincial governor Din Mohammad, said. |