PRESIDENT Hamid Karzai accused Afghan guards working for US forces of killing a provincial police chief and at least four other security officers during a gun battle outside a government office yesterday.
In a harshly worded statement, Mr Karzai demanded that US forces hand over the guards involved. But the governor of Kandahar later said 41 private security guards connected to the incident had been disarmed and arrested by Afghan authorities.
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US military said it was not involved in the shooting, calling it an "Afghan-on-Afghan incident". However, Mr Karzai's statement suggested the guards sought refuge in a US base after the killings, and he "demanded that coalition forces prevent such incidents, which weaken the government".
The situation lays bare the often testy relations between Mr Karzai and American officials. The president's accusations come as thousands of US Marines and soldiers are deploying across southern Afghanistan, the Taleban's stronghold and a region where Mr Karzai is also seeking votes from his Pashtun tribesmen ahead of the 20 August presidential election.
Gunfire broke out after Afghan forces moved into a heavily protected government complex in Kandahar and demanded the release of a man accused of forging documents, said Hafizullah Khaliqyar, Kandahar's attorney general.
When the Afghan forces threatened to release the suspect by force, Mr Khaliqyar called the provincial police chief, he said.
Kandahar governor Tooryalai Weesa said the prisoner was a relative of an employee of the company for which the guards worked.
"When the police chief wanted to talk to these people, there was some argument and the gun battle started," Mr Khaliqyar said.
Among the officials killed were the provincial police chief, Matiullah Qati, and the province's criminal investigations director. Total death tolls from Afghan officials ranged from five to ten police killed.
Hours later, Mr Karzai released a statement.
"President Hamid Karzai demanded that coalition forces hand over the private security individuals belonging to coalition forces responsible for the killing of Kandahar provincial security officials to the relevant security authorities of the Afghan government," the statement from the president's office said.
A US military spokesman, Chief Petty Officer Brian Naranjo, said no American military forces from any branches – including special operations forces – were present or involved in the incident. US military officials do not speak for any other security branches of the government, such as the CIA.
"The incident was an Afghan-on-Afghan incident and did not involve US or international personnel or equipment," a US military statement said.
The area was sealed by US forces after the shooting, a reporter at the scene said.
The killing of Kandahar's top police officer is a blow to security efforts in a province from which the Taleban leader, Mullah Omar, once ruled the country. US soldiers are deploying to Kandahar later this summer, part of a surge that will see the total number of American forces in the country brought to 68,000, more than double the 32,000 troops there last year.
