A family in Kandahar province claims that a ten-year-old girl with her father was killed by army troops in Shah Wali Kot district.
Family members say that nearly two weeks ago ten-year-old Nazdana was shot by army soldiers in Shah Wali Kot district, and when her father, along with several others, took her body to the army base as a protest, the soldiers killed her father.
The victim’s relatives claim that she was outside the house fetching water.
The victim’s family wants justice from the government.
“When we took Nazdana’s dead body close to the army camp they (the army) said, what is this? You bring a Talib's dead body? We told them, no, it is not the dead body of a Talib--this is the girl that you shot yesterday. We were around 60 people and they (soldiers) started shooting at all of us and as a result my brother also died,” said Mohammad, the victim’s uncle.
“The killing of our relatives and the first incident should be investigated so it is not repeated in the future,” said Abdul Basir, a relative of the victims.
The victim’s relatives claim that for one night and for one day the girl's body was near the army base, and, because of fear of gunfire, locals were not able remove it.
“Our own army killing our people in their homes--they kill children and wound people also,” said Mohammad Qasim, another relative of the victim.
The base from which the shooting took place is close to the victim’s house and other residents of the area.
Kandahar's governor and the Ministry of Defense announced that investigations have started, and an army soldier has been arrested in connection with the incident.
“A delegation has come from the center and the chief of army staff was here. The soldier who did the shooting will be punished according to criminal law,” said Hayatullah Hayat, Kandahar governor.
“A delegation went to Kandahar province and after investigations a decision will be made,” said Defense Ministry spokesman Rohullah Ahmadzai.
The rising civilian casualties in the war have raised serious concerns. UN statistics show that civilian casualties in the Afghan war are alarmingly high.