AP: Afghan, U.S. Reports on Firefight Differ

By RAHIM FAIEZ, Associated Press Writer

BARIKAW, Afghanistan - An explosives-rigged minivan crashed into a convoy of Marines that U.S. officials said also came under fire from militant gunmen Sunday. As many as 10 people were killed and 34 wounded as the convoy made a frenzied escape, and injured Afghans said the Americans fired on civilian cars and pedestrians as they sped away.

U.S. officials said militant gunfire may have killed or injured civilians, but Afghanistan's Interior Ministry and wounded Afghans said most of the bullets were American. Hundreds of angry Afghans protested near the blast site, denouncing the U.S. presence here.

As the Americans fled, they treated every car and person along the busy, tree-lined highway as a potential attacker, said Mohammad Khan Katawazi, the district chief of Shinwar in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar province.

"I saw them turning and firing in this direction, then turning and firing in that direction," Ahmed Najib, a 23-year-old hit by a bullet in his right shoulder, said of the U.S. forces. "I even saw a farmer shot by the Americans

http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2007/03/04/602253.html&cvqh=itn_afghans

Why do I lean towards the Afghans?

Our military was so freaked out that they went after an AP crew that showed up 30 minutes after the incident and destroyed their photographic records. That is a guilty act.

and only half of what you see......