Afghan fury after NATO troops kill four civilians

---

KANDAHAR, Apr 12 (AFP):Four civilians were killed when NATO troops fired on a bus in Afghanistan Monday, sparking furious protests and an expression of regret from the military alliance.
About 200 men took to the streets of Kandahar to demonstrate over the killings on a highway outside the southern Afghan city, burning tyres and shouting "death to America, death to Karzai, death to this government".
Hours later, three attackers wearing suicide vests and carrying guns tried to storm the office of Afghanistan's premier spy agency in Kandahar, sparking a shoot-out with security forces.
The incidents reflected chronic insecurity in the province of Kandahar, where US-led military forces are preparing a major push to dislodge the Taliban from their spiritual capital.
A woman and a child were among the dead and 18 others were wounded in the incident, which occurrred when the bus approached a NATO convoy on the main highway linking Kandahar and the western province of Herat, the interior ministry and provincial government said.
The civilian deaths drew strong criticism from President Hamid Karzai, who said: "Opening fire on a passenger bus is an act against NATO's commitment to protect civilians and is by no means justifiable."
NATO said it "deeply regrets" the civilian deaths, after its own investigation of the incident.