KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — A few dozen villagers are protesting what they say was the killing overnight of five civilians by police in southern Afghanistan.
More than 30 villagers gathered on March 10 in the main southern city of Kandahar to call for redress.
They brought with them bodies of three men they say were slain by police in Pashmol village in nearby Zhari district on Wednesday night. The villagers say two women were also killed.
Zhari district chief Niaz Mohammad Sarhadi says the men were known insurgents. Sarhadi says police wanted to capture the three men but came under fire. He says he does not believe two women were killed.
It is often difficult in the volatile south where many villages are loyal to the Taliban to separate actual civilian deaths from insurgent propaganda.
