The events took place on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the retreat of the Taliban government from Kabul following a month-long bombardment of the city by U.S. forces. Since then some 9,000 U.S. troops have continued to occupy Afghanistan, along with a 5,000-strong United Nations force centered in the capital.

The protests were sparked when authorities told more than 400 students that they would not be fed because of a food shortage, after they had waited three hours in line for food following the end of the day-long fast being observed during the month of Ramadan. More than 1,000 youth marched toward the presidential palace to voice their discontent over this latest incident and to protest the fact that they have not had running water in their dormitory for the past seven days. In fact, for several weeks residents of Kabul have had electrical power cut back to four hours per day and have had to confront diminishing water supplies as shallow wells dry up and pumping stations fail.

The police opened fire at the demonstrating students. According to Khan, an economics student, "The police said stop and we stopped. Without saying anything they shot."

The following morning students gathered on the campus for a second march. They chanted, "Death to the killers of our colleagues. We want justice," outside the dilapidated dormitories where more than 3,000 students live. Nangalai, a medical student, said, "We have no water. We have no bread. We have no electricity. Everything is expensive." Agriculture student Zalmay Omarkhel, 25, added, "Now they are killing us too. We don’t know if we live in a democracy or a dictatorship."

Hundreds of riot police surrounded the protesters, firing weapons into the air, blasting them with water cannons, and pummeling any they could catch. Witnesses reported that a number of students were bleeding as they were hauled away.

Some 2,000 students assembled the following day outside the gates of the university, refusing to attend classes until authorities met their demands for improved living conditions and brought to justice those responsible for the deaths. "Losing a week or two in lessons is nothing, we can always get them back," stated Gul Rahman, a second-year student. "Losing these people is a big deal, they can never be returned to us."

A BBC reporter described the actions as "the largest student demonstration in more than two decades."

President Hamid Karzai ordered an investigation into both the protests and the killings. "A university is not a place of politics," he asserted. Karzai backed comments made by his interior minister that the protest was the work of agitators stirring up the students. "I know there is something from the outside involved in this incident," he stated.

Responding to this charge, a social science student named Umaid said, "Everyone who protests is said to be Taliban or al Qaeda. It doesn’t matter if you are starving and you protest. ‘You are Taliban,’ they say."  
 
‘Civilian affairs soldiers’
Meanwhile, Washington is taking steps to reinforce its military presence through sponsoring a number of construction projects across the country. According to the New York Times, "The Pentagon has decided to send 170 more civilian affairs soldiers to Afghanistan, doubling the current number." Washington is also considering using the Army Corps of Engineers to "manage" road and bridge projects in northern Afghanistan. These moves toward an "expanded presence of American diplomatic-military teams" will mean that Karzai will now be able to send "soldiers to major population centers like Mazar-i-Sharif, Herat, Kandahar and Bamian," in a move to expand the Afghan government’s control beyond Kabul.

Some Afghan residents arrested and imprisoned by U.S. troops have spoken about their experiences. In Konar province in eastern Afghanistan, for example, a 19-year-old policeman named Jahadullah reported being taken captive this past summer by U.S. soldiers and flown to the U.S. air base at Bagram blindfolded. There he was imprisoned for two months.

"Jahadullah said he was confined in one of numerous barbed-wire enclosures inside a large garage that held about 25 detainees," reported the Washington Post. "He said the lights were on 24 hours a day and prisoners were forbidden to move about or converse on penalty of being handcuffed and hooded."

Jahadullah stated, "If we spoke to each other, they put black bags on our heads. Every time they took me for questioning they asked me if there were Taliban in Konar. Some of the others cried or shouted, but I just bore it. After a long time, they said they were sorry and flew me back home."  
 
 
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