By Jon Stephenson, McClatchy Newspapers –
NAJIBAN, Afghanistan — A high-level Afghan delegation came under fire from suspected Taliban insurgents on Tuesday while visiting the site of Sunday’s massacre of 16 civilians by a U.S. soldier.
(PHOTO: A wounded Afghan National Army officer, foreground, and an Afghan policeman run for cover during an attack, Tuesday, March 13, 2012, by Taliban insurgents on a high-level delegation that was visiting Najiban village in Kandahar province, the site of Sunday’s massacre of 16 civilians by a U.S. soldier.)
One Afghan soldier was killed in the attack on the delegation, which included two brothers of Afghan President Hamid Karzai as well as the governor of Kandahar province, the Afghan army chief and other senior officials. None of the Afghan officials was reported harmed.
Two other soldiers were wounded in the shooting, which came as the delegation members were preparing to leave the village of Najiban, where 11 of the 16 civilians were killed in Sunday’s rampage.
In Washington, President Obama condemned Sunday’s incident, calling it “outrageous” and “unacceptable,” and vowed that the Pentagon would conduct a thorough investigation. But he said that it wouldn’t force an acceleration of his administration’s plan to halt U.S. combat operations by the end of 2014 and transfer security responsibilities to Afghan forces.
“We have a strategy that will allow us to responsibly wind down this war. We’re steadily transitioning to the Afghans who are moving into the lead. And that’s going to allow us to bring our troops home,” Obama said.
The attack Tuesday on the delegation showed, however, that insurgents continue to disrupt even the most well guarded affairs.
A McClatchy Newspapers reporter, the only Western journalist at the scene, heard multiple gunshots and a number of explosions during a roughly 30-minute attack. The assailants apparently were firing heavy machine guns, among other weapons, from long range at a group that included Abdul Qayum Karzai and Shah Wali Karzai.
Afghan security sources said the attackers had fired from the neighboring village of Alkozai, more than one mile away, where the other five Afghans in Sunday’s attack were killed.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s shooting, which came despite a massive operation to secure the village for the delegation’s visit.
Dozens of soldiers, police officers and bodyguards — many heavily armed — had flooded the area, and U.S. armored vehicles and helicopters were also close by.
The attack came as U.S. military officials prepared to file charges against the lone suspect in the shooting, a 38-year-old Army staff sergeant who had survived three tours in Iraq before deploying to Afghanistan a few months ago. Hours before Tuesday’s shooting, the Taliban vowed to exact revenge for the killings of civilians, warning the United States in a statement that its fighters” shall cut off the heads of your murderous sadistic troops in every corner of the country.”
Speaking after Tuesday’s shooting, the chief of staff of the Afghan National Army, Gen. Sher Mohammad Karimi, downplayed the incident, saying, “it’s not of great significance.”
However, the fact that the assailants pierced a heavily secured area — in a district of Kandahar, Panjway, thought to be under tight control by coalition forces — suggested “a very strong attack,” according to another Afghan officer.
“We were very lucky,” said Maj. Gen. Sardar Mohammad Abul Fazel. “If the security hadn’t been good, more people would have been killed.
