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Villagers protest alleged trespassing by nomads in Kabul

KABUL: About 1,000 villagers staged a noisy protest in the Afghan capital on Sunday against nomadic tribes people they claim have been squatting on their land. Protesters from five villages east of Kabul gathered outside the Presidential Palace to demand that the government expel the tribes’ people and their livestock from areas in Bagrami district. “We want our land back,” shouted the villagers, who carried signs in English and the local Dari language. Local tribes people are known to rove through the highlands near Kabul during the summer months, often with cattle and other livestock, to camp and let their animals graze. But Bagrami villagers say they have legal and hereditary rights to the land under the government of President Hamid Karzai. “We won’t let anybody capture our land,” said Sher Agha Farooqi, one of the protest organisers. “We have documents that show this land belongs to us.” ap

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