March 4, 2007 Shooting in Afghanistan

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On March 4, 2007, US Marine Special Forces^[1] who had just escaped an early-morning ambush by Taliban insurgents in Muhmand Dara, Afghanistan, retaliated^[2] by opening fire on nearby civilians, including pedestrians and passing cars, including those that had pulled to the side of the road to comply with orders^[3]^[4]. Ultimately 19 Afghan civilians were killed in the incident, and another 50 wounded.^[5]

[edit] Shootings

Haji Ihsanullah, a member of Hezb e Islami^[6], initially drove a minivan laden with explosives^[7] into one of the five vehicles making up the US convoy, which included three^[8], or six^[9], humvees, wounding one Marine.^[10] Sources differ on whether or not hidden gunmen then also opened fire on the convoy.^[11]

US forces then fled the scene of the ambush "firing wildly"^[12], opening fire on every civilian and vehicle they saw for 6-16^[13] miles while driving along the Afghan street^[14].

Initial reports stated that 14 civilians had been killed in the attack, and another 35 were wounded by the gunfire. But officials at Bagram Air Base later claimed that only 8 had been killed, ^[15] while other sources reported that 4 of the wounded later died of their injuries at Jalalabad Hospital.^[16] Ultimately it was announced by the US military that 19 civilians had been killed, and another 50 wounded.^[17]

The shootings led to hundreds of demonstrators shouting "Death to America!" and "Death to Karzai!"^[18]

The event was described as an "emotional" response by the US forces, by Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Zmarai Bashiri. Hundreds, or thousands^[19], of Afghans gathered to protest the shooting.

A US soldier, acting on his own initiative, also forced two Associated Press photojournalists to delete their digital photographs of the attack's aftermath after they crossed the security perimeter to approach the scene,^[20]^[21] although al Jazeera photojournalists later visited the site and captured similar footage.^[22]

[edit] Aftermath

Major General Frank Kearney, head of the SpecOps Central Command, ordered the entire 120-member unit out of Afghanistan pending an investigation into the incident, and announced that there was no evidence supporting the Marines' story that they had come under fire.^[23]

On April 3 the unit's commander and senior officer were relieved of their duties and sent back to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.^[24] The former commander is now being represented by attorney Mark Waple.^[25]

Compensation payments of approximately $2000 were paid to the families of those killed or wounded.^[26]

The shooting is under investigation by both Afghanistan^[27] and the United States.

On April 12, the initial US inquiry determined that the Marines used "excessive force when they killed civilians after a suicide bombing", and was referred to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service for a criminal inquiry.^[28]

On May 7, a formal apology was issued by The Pentagon,^[29] but was dismissed as premature by General James Conway who said ""I would just as soon that no one...apologize or talk about 'terrible, terrible mistakes'".^[30]