Foreign troops not in Kandahar shootout, Canadian military says
Published Tuesday June 30th, 2009
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The Canadian military said international forces were not involved in a shootout that killed an Afghan police chief in Kandahar but did play a role in containing the incident.
Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance, the senior Canadian commander in Kandahar, said Monday that international forces had nothing to do with the violence. "This was an altercation between Afghan security forces," Vance said. "Afghans are dealing with it."
Coalition forces acted only to contain the incident, and those involved would be handed over to Afghan authorities, he said.
Capt. Marie-France Poulin, a Canadian military spokeswoman, said the perpetrators were "acting on their own accord and on their own volition - without any orders to do so."
"They are all in custody now," Poulin said.
The incident apparently began when a man was arrested and was sent to a district attorney's office. The detainee called friends and they arrived to try to secure his release.
Someone in the district attorney's office called police and the gun battle erupted when they arrived.
Kandahar Gov. Tooryalai Wesa said police chief Matiullah Qati and a criminal investigation officer named Abdul Khalik Hamdard were among several police officers killed.
Wesa said 41 private security guards working for coalition forces were disarmed and arrested and would be sent soon to Kabul for a military trial.
But there were also reports that those involved in fighting the police were from special Afghan units that support American counter-terrorism forces.
Vance said private security guards contracted by the international forces were not involved, but added it was "dangerous" to speculate on exactly who was involved or what was the motivation for the shootout.
Poulin said that the Canadian Forces had assisted in securing the site.
A U.S. military spokesman said no American military forces from any branch, including special operations forces, were present or involved in the incident.
Poulin said the regional deputy had been replaced and all elements of the Afghan and international security forces had stepped up their patrols.
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Joseph Bonnevie Moncton NB
You should try re-joining and finding out what is actually going on given that you have not been outside the country with our military since the 1960s!