March 13, 2012

Militants in Afghanistan launched an attack on a delegation of Afghan government officials visiting the site in Panjwai in Kandahar province where an American soldier killed 16 civilians on March 11. The attack on the delegation was made “from several directions,” and Afghan forces returned fire. An Afghan soldier and three militants were killed in the melee. The delegation, which was there to offer condolences to villagers and meet tribal elders, included Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s brothers and several top security officials.

The U.S. soldier said to have carried out Sunday’s attacks–38-year-old staff sergeant–is under arrest. After leaving his base in the early hours, the soldier went on a rampage through village homes, killing as he moved from house to house. Among the 16 dead were 9 children. The sergeant had served three tours of duty in Iraq before being deployed to Afghanistan in December.

In the eastern city of Jalalabad, some 600 students took part today in a rally, condemning the Kandahar attack and chanting “Death to America! Death to Obama!” In Kabul, the capital, the U.S. embassy issued warnings of possible new anti-American reprisals. Anti-U.S. sentiment was already high in Afghanistan in the wake of an incident in February in which Qur’ans were accidentally desecrated by American troops. Although American officials, including President Barack Obama apologized for that incident, they failed to quell a series of protests and attacks that left at least 30 people dead, including 6 U.S. troops.

United States forces in Afghanistan. (Warren Zinn, Getty Images)

On Sept. 11, 2001, members of a terrorist organization called al-Qa’ida launched a series of terrorist attacks against the United States. The United States accused Afghanistan, then under the control of the Taliban, of harboring and assisting al-Qa’ida, which was led by a Saudi national, Osama bin Laden. The United States demanded that the Taliban arrest bin Laden and other Qa’ida leaders and shut down their training camps. When the Taliban refused, the United States and its allies launched a military campaign against the Taliban. In 2006, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) took over peacekeeping and security duties for Afghanistan from the U.S.-led alliance. In 2012, NATO and the U.S.-led alliance continues to fight Taliban and Qa’ida forces in Afghanistan.

Additional World Book articles

• Afghanistan War
• In Harm’s Way: Reporting from the Front Lines (a special report)
• Terrorism: America’s New Enemy (a special report)
• Afghanistan 2001 (Back in Time article)
• United States, government of the 2001 (Back in Time article)