PAN, September 28, 2009

US soldiers gun down schoolboy in Paktika

The teenager was hit in the head by foreign soldiers.

Obaid Kharotai

SHARAN: US forces shot dead a schoolboy on his way home in the southeastern province of Paktika on Monday, the victim's father said.

Ghulam Shah, father of the 13-year-old Zeeshan, told Pajhwok Afghan News his son was returning home on a bicycle from school. He alleged NATO-led soldiers opened fire on the boy in Madatkhel area on the outskirts of Sharan, the provincial capital.

"No one can ask American troops about the killings of our sons, brothers and sisters," an angry Ghulam Shah said, adding that his son also worked with a mechanic in the main Sharan bazaar during his free time.

A Sharan Civil Hospital employee, Najibullah, confirmed receiving Zeeshan's bullet-riddled body. The teenager was hit in the head by foreign soldiers. The ISAF press office in the eastern zone also confirmed the incident and admitted it was a mistaken firing incident.

It said the boy was stuck by a bullet fired into the air and his family members would be provided compensation. The troops expressed sympathies with relatives of the victim.

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