Warlord’s removal protested

KABUL, Afghanistan — Hundreds of people rioted in the western city of Herat on Sunday, attacking United Nations offices and shouting anti-American slogans to protest a powerful warlord’s removal as provincial governor.

Various news agencies reported that three to eight people were killed and dozens injured in the rioting; Afghan government officials in Kabul had initially insisted that no one had died.

Protests began after Ismail Khan, who ruled Herat province — the country’s richest — with an iron fist, was removed from his post Saturday and was asked to become the federal minister of mines and industries. He turned down the job.

Demonstrations turned into riots as crowds threw rocks at U.S. soldiers and set two fires and ransacked five U.N. and aid group buildings. Protesters yelled slogans against American troops and U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai.

At least three U.S. soldiers and one Afghan soldier were injured in the violence.

“Our people have the freedom to demonstrate in a peaceful way,” said Karzai at a news conference Sunday. “But if they create problems, destroy shops, they’re the enemies of our country.”

The deteriorating security situation in Herat poses a problem for Karzai, who faces an Oct. 9 election. He has turned warlords into a campaign issue, and promised Saturday to reel them in. Karzai removed Khan and also the governor of Ghor province.

The moves were supposed to bring stability to Afghanistan’s western provinces.

By late Sunday, troops had pushed the protesters into an area of less than a mile. There were two demonstrations Sunday night, which were not violent.

“The city is now mostly calm,” the U.S. military said.

Mohammadullah Afzali, a provincial foreign relations official, said Khan’s supporters had tried to demonstrate peacefully, but opportunists turned the demonstration into a riot.

Khan, one of the most powerful warlords in Afghanistan, is a hero of the Afghan war against the Soviet Union, a famed fighter with a loyal militia.

As governor, he has been praised for turning Herat into one of the country’s nicer cities, largely immune from the Taliban insurgency, with new construction, grass and city services.

But Khan has been blamed for keeping tax dollars that should have been passed on to the central government. He also has been accused of oppressing women and torturing his enemies, and he has resisted disarming his militia.