Afghans protest again in north, demand governor's trial

By Tahir Qadiry

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Under tight security by NATO and Afghan forces, hundreds of people protested on Thursday in Afghanistan's northern town of Shiberghan, scene of a bloody protest this week against a provincial governor.

The protesters demanded the removal and trial of Governor Juma Khan Hamdard, who they accuse of being incompetent and a bigoted ethnic Pashtun.

Protesters said Hamdard should be tried for the deaths of those killed in Monday's demonstration. Witnesses said 13 died when police fired shots into the crowd, while the government said six were killed.

A spokesman for the governor, Rohullah Samun, said the protests were part of an armed uprising provoked by General Abdul Rashid Dostum against provincial and central authorities.

"Dostum has actually started distributing arms to people and bracing for violence," Samun said.

Kanjena Kargar, an official for Dostum's faction, dismissed Samun's comments.

Business had come to a halt in the town and the situation was tense, Samun said.

NATO-led peacekeepers and Afghan forces were deployed to prevent the protest from turning violent, said Khalil Aminzada, police chief of Jowzjan, of which Shiberghan is the capital.