Protests, attacks hit Afghanistan in wake of massacre

Noorullah Shirzada / AFP - Getty Images

Protestors shout anti-American slogans during a demonstration in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, on Tuesday.

By Msnbc.com and wire services

Thousands of people took to the streets in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday to protest the killing of 16 civilians by a U.S. soldier, burning an effigy of Barak Obama and calling for the killer to be tried in Afghanistan.

Demonstrators in the city of Jalalabad chanted "Death to America -- Death to Obama" and blocked the main highway to Afghanistan's capital, Kabul,?Britain's Daily Telegraph reported.

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"Jihad (holy war) is the only way to get the invading Americans out of?Afghanistan," one banner read, according to the newspaper.

The demonstrators also demanded that President Hamid Karzai reject plans to sign a strategic pact with Washington that would allow U.S. advisers and possibly special forces to remain beyond a 2014 deadline for foreign combat troops to leave Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, militants attacked an Afghan?government delegation that was visiting the site of the killings, the BBC reported.

"I?can confirm that the Taliban have launched an attack from several directions against a government delegation,"?a senior official told the BBC. "At this stage, our forces are returning fire.''

Nine children and three women were among those killed in the massacre. According to reports, a 38-year-old staff sergeant had left his base in Panjwai district early on Sunday and broke into the victim's homes. Some of the bodies were burned.

The recent killings have brought great sadness to Afghanistan, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called the killings 'unforgiveable.' NBC's Atia Abawi reports.

The soldier?had no history of behavioral problems but had been treated for traumatic brain injury after a previous deployment to Iraq, senior U.S. defense officials told NBC News.

U.S. officials rushed to draw a line between the shooting over the weekend and ongoing efforts of a U.S. force of around 90,000, and have been bracing themselves for reprisals as Afghans weary of the decade-old Western military presence vent their anger.

The Afghan Taliban threatened on Tuesday to behead U.S. troops in revenge for the massacre.

Taliban vows 'revenge' after US soldier kills 16 civilans in Afghanistan

"The Islamic Emirate once again warns the American animals that the mujahedeen will avenge them, and with the help of Allah will kill and behead your sadistic murderous soldiers," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in an emailed statement, using the term with which the Islamist group describes itself.

Msnbc.com staff and Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/13/10663423-protests-attacks-hit-afghanistan-in-wake-of-massacre

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