United Nations, rights group condemn Kabul student killings

Kabul (Reuters): The United Nations and a leading human rights group condemned the Afghan police on Thursday for clashes with Kabul University students in which at least two demonstrators died.

UN spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva urged authorities to launch an investigation into the incidents on Monday and Tuesday at a Kabul University campus.

"The shooting of the students was in no way justified by considerations of either self-defense by the police or public safety," he told a news briefing.

Hundreds of students were protesting against living conditions in dormitories, where they said they had no heating or electricity for several days.

Students said between four and six demonstrators died when police opened fire during the clashes. The UN said two deaths had been confirmed, while New York-based Human Rights Watch gave a death toll of three.

Another 15 to 20 protesters were injured over two days of clashes, several arrests were made and the authorities said seven policemen were hurt.

Students threw stones at police in riot gear late on Monday and police responded by shooting into the crowd, witnesses said.

On Tuesday the police turned water cannons on the demonstrators and fired into the air.

Human Rights Watch said police had fired directly into the crowd on Tuesday, without any warning shots.

"Human Rights Watch interviewed eyewitnesses who said that police beat students in the university dormitory and threatened injured students at the hospital," it added in a report.

Reporters who tried to get into Kabul hospitals where injured students had been taken were refused entry.