In other news from Afghanistan, hundreds of people, mostly students, protested in Kabul and in the province of Nangarhar earlier today against the US killing of civilians. Another protest against civilian deaths was held on December 30. Over the past ten days, Afghan civilians have been killed in a number of attacks. Four civilians were killed during an operation of NATO forces in Baghlan. Eleven Afghans, including eight schoolchildren, were killed in eastern Kunar, and thirteen more Afghans died in an air raid in Laghman province. The killing of the schoolchildren has sparked the most outrage. According to the Times of London, US-led troops dragged innocent children from their beds and shot them during a night raid on December 27. Afghan government investigators said that eight schoolchildren were killed, all but one of them from the same family. The headmaster of the local school said seven of the children were handcuffed and then executed. A preliminary investigation by the United Nations determined that students were killed in the raid. Kai Eide, who heads the United Nations in Kabul, said the UN remained concerned about nighttime raids by coalition troops “given that they often result in lethal outcomes for civilians.”