If anyone has any information on this one, I am all ears. It sounds like to me that they were unfortunately in a part of town that is not too friendly towards contractors or foreigners. Or worse yet, the crowd was fed by some instigators who took it upon themselves to twist the story around and try to create a riot.
All I know is that some Afghanis are dead from a horrible crash, and some DynCorp contractors are wounded because of a hostile crowd. If they were attacked by the crowd, then they showed some serious discipline to ‘not’ fire their weapons in self defense. I mean this could have ended up like another Blackwater Bridge scenario, the way it sounds. Who knows, and as more information comes out, I will make the edit. –Matt
Edit: July 31, 2010 – A big thanks to Ashley Burke from DynCorp, who sent me this update and statement from the company. The thing I keep looking at here, is how quickly the crowd formed and attacked this crew. There must have been instigators in the crowd. And it sounds like the Afghans who pulled out in front of the DynCorp convoy are at fault here. But yet the crowd could care less. Here is the statement:
I saw your recent posting and wanted to make sure you had the full DI statement on this incident.
On July 30, 2010, DynCorp International (DI) personnel were involved in a car accident in Kabul when an Afghan vehicle unexpectedly pulled in front of them on a road to the airport. Several Afghan civilians were killed in the tragic accident.
When the DI personnel exited their vehicle to assess the situation and assist, a crowd quickly formed, the DI team was attacked, and their vehicle was set on fire. A second DI team arrived on the scene to assist, that DI team was also attacked by the crowd, and their vehicle was set on fire. Local police arrived quickly. DI personnel took no action against the crowd and did not fire any shots, deferring to the local police who took action to disperse the crowd and remove the DI team to safety.
Any accident involving a loss of life is tragic. Our condolences go out to the families of those who were killed or injured in the accident. An investigation into the accident is underway and, until that investigation is complete, it would be inappropriate to comment further.
The employees involved in the accident are working under a program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.
From Ashley Burke
—————————————————————–
Fatal Crash Stokes Afghan-U.S. Tension in Kabul
July 30, 2010
Auto Accident Involving American Contractors Leaves 4 Locals Dead; Mob Hurls Stones, Sets Fire to Vehicles
A fatal traffic accident involving private U.S. security contractors sparked an angry demonstration in Kabul Friday, with enraged Afghans hurling stones, setting fire to two vehicles and shouting “death to America” before police fired guns into the air to disperse the crowd.
Four Afghans were killed in the accident on the main airport road, according to Kabul’s criminal investigations chief, Abdul Ghaafar Sayedzada.
U.S. embassy spokesperson Caitlin Hayden confirmed to CBS News that the SUV involved was carrying four contractors from DynCorp, a private security firm affiliated with the embassy. Afghan police officials said the Americans were traveling in a two-vehicle convoy.
There were conflicting accounts of the accident and its aftermath. Local witnesses told CBS News that the Americans were driving the wrong way down the road, though DynCorp said that version of events was “not correct.”
Witnesses also said only three locals were killed in the crash, with the fourth dying after the U.S. contractors opened fire into the crowd.
Hayden, however, denied that any U.S. personnel fired shots during the encounter. Dyncorp also denied the charge, saying in a statement that Americans “took no action against the crowd and did not fire any shots, deferring to the local police who took action to disperse the crowd and remove the [DynCorp] team to safety.”
DynCorp further claimed that three of the Americans were hurt by the crowd, including one who received a concussion, before Afghan security forces could help them to safety.
Afghanistan’s Interior Minister said police escorted the contractors to the U.S. embassy following the incident. But tension filled the scene hours after the crash.
Afghan police, some carrying riot shields, converged on the area, firing warning shots into the air to disperse the protesters. Sayedzada said the crowd burned two foreigners’ vehicles, causing heavy black smoke to rise from the scene.
“It is our right to raise up our voice and protest when innocent Afghans are harmed,” said Azizullah, a 25-year-old student, who like many Afghans uses one name.
Ahmad Jawid, who also was at the scene, asked: “Are we not Muslims? Are we not from Afghanistan? Infidels are here and they are ruling us. Why?”
A fatal traffic accident caused by a U.S. military convoy in 2006 triggered an anti-American riot in Kabul that left at least 14 people dead and dozens injured.
In a statement, DynCorp described the fatalities as “tragic” and said an “an investigation into the accident is underway.”
Story here.
Let's remember that there are plenty of bad drivers in Kabul, this was most likely an accident involving a poorly skilled driver. It might have been the Afghani drivers fault, but DynCorp needs to do the right thing here and pay blood money.
Dyn has exactly two options here. (1) Send a representative to negotiate the price for peace. It's how the locals do it. It also shows cultural understanding and sensitivity. There will be no reprisals if the families of the dead accept the money.
(2) Anything else. No matter what else they do, if they don't pay the money there will be blood. Every Afghani has about 200 close relatives. Several of whom are military age males who most likely practice some form of Pashtunwali. Badal (revenge) will dictate that they kill DynCorp men. This isn't a BS Samurai/Bushido code some yuppie stock broker espouses. These people have basically one thing, their word/code. Without blood money being paid, the families involved will kill until their honor is restored from this (perceived) insult.
The speed with which this crowd coalesced could be indicative of a provocateur in the crowd, but it could also indicate a widespread dislike of foreigners in general. What is scarier? That the people we are swimming in have turned hostile to us in KABUL? Mao would be doing this better. The people cannot be hostile to us or we will fail.
Comment by matt — Saturday, July 31, 2010 @ 9:10 PM
This is a good example of why Civilian Security Contractors should carry non-lethal weapons like rubber buckshot, crows control sized cans of pepper spray, sonic sound wave pain generators and tazers.
I bet is they had a few dozen huge cans of pepper spray this would have ended differently
Oddly I know of no road crews that carry any of the above
~James G
Comment by James G — Sunday, August 1, 2010 @ 5:25 PM
Thanks for the input guys. Both of your comments bring up some very legitimate issues that need to be dealt with. Because this thing could have blown up into something way worse and I have a feeling that the enemy would like nothing more than to see a crowd tear apart some contractors or military guys. Post it on youtube, and cause even more outrage throughout the world and locally. Things to ponder, and I just did a post on the subject that deals with this stuff.
Comment by headjundi — Sunday, August 1, 2010 @ 7:59 PM