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Afghan government accuses US special forces of civilian death and torture Afghanistan government accuses US special forces of civilian death and torture
(about 7 hours later)
The Afghan government has ordered all US special forces to leave one of Afghanistan's most restive provinces, after receiving reports from local officials claiming the elite force is behind several cases of Afghan civilians being tortured or disappeared. The Afghan government has ordered US special forces to leave one of Afghanistan's most restive provinces, Maidan Wardak, after receiving reports from local officials claiming that the elite units had been involved in the torture and disappearance of Afghan civilians.
Officials in Maidan Wardak, a province which borders Kabul and where security has deteriorated over the past year, had presented evidence to President Hamid Karzai and other security officials alleging that nine people had disappeared after being seized by US special forces in raids on their homes. US military officials have rejected the allegations but President Hamid Karzai, who convened a meeting of the Afghan national security council on Sunday, appears to believe the evidence was strong enough to demand US special forces leave Maidan Wardak within two weeks.
US special forces were also accused of involvement in the death of a university student whose tortured remains were found days after he went missing. Security in the province bordering Kabul has deteriorated over the past year, and it has become a focus of US-led efforts to stop insurgents reaching the capital. The decision could have implications for relations with Washington and for US plans to maintain a counter-terrorist force in Afghanistan after Nato combat troops leave in 2014.
"People have been complaining about US special forces units torturing and killing people in that province and nine individuals were taken from their homes recently and they have just disappeared and no one knows where they have gone," said Aimal Faizi, spokesman for the president. The provincial governor and other officials from Maidan Wardak presented evidence against US forces at the national security council meeting. The presidential palace later issued a statement saying: "After a thorough discussion, it became clear that armed individuals named as US special forces stationed in Wardak province engage in harassing, annoying, torturing and even murdering innocent people.
Senior Afghan security officials made the decision at their weekly meeting on Sunday morning, chaired by Karzai. Faizi said the government had been made aware of the allegations months earlier. "A recent example in the province is an incident in which nine people were disappeared in an operation by this suspicious force and in a separate incident a student was taken away at night from his home, whose tortured body with throat cut was found two days later under a bridge," the statement added. "However, Americans reject having conducted any such operation and any involvement of their special force."
The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Kabul said it was aware of the order, but declined to provide further information. It was also unable to confirm the number of US special forces currently in Maidan Wardak. The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Kabul said it was aware of the order, but declined to provide further information. It was also unable to confirm the number of US special forces in Maidan Wardak.
"We take allegations of misconduct seriously and go to great lengths to determine the facts surrounding them, but until we've had a chance to talk to senior government of Afghanistan officials, we're not in a position to comment further," an Isaf spokesman said."We take allegations of misconduct seriously and go to great lengths to determine the facts surrounding them, but until we've had a chance to talk to senior government of Afghanistan officials, we're not in a position to comment further," an Isaf spokesman said.
Officials from the Ministry of Defence and National Directorate of Security in Kabul recently travelled to Maidan Wardak to meet its governor and discuss new plans to improve security, Faizi said. Those discussions included the conduct of US special forces in the area. Aimal Faizi, spokesman for Karzai, said the decision came after of months of reports of abuse.
"These individuals in the US special forces, who are behind these crimes like murdering and torturing people and harassing people, this is in itself an elemental factor in the deteriorating security situation," Faizi said. "People have been complaining about US special forces units torturing people, killing people in that province, and nine individuals were taken from their homes recently and they have just disappeared and no one knows where they have gone," Faizi said.
Afghanistan's own elite commando forces, including the 1st, 2nd and 6th Special Operations Kandak, also operate in Maidan Wardak, often working alongside US special forces. Faizi said that this association had also fuelled negative feeling towards the Afghan government in the area, something officials wanted to stem. "These individuals in the US special forces, who are behind these crimes like murdering and torturing people and harassing people, this is in itself an elemental factor in the deteriorating security situation."
Sunday's decision comes as Afghan forces face mounting pressure to show they are fit to fully inherit Afghanistan's security from their foreign backers in 2014. Tensions between Karzai's government and the alliance also hit a new low last week after he condemned a Nato airstrike that killed nine civilians. Afghanistan's elite commando forces, including the 1st, 2nd and 6th special operations kandak, also operate in Maidan Wardak, often working alongside US special forces. Faizi said that this association had also fuelled negative feeling towards the Afghan government in the area, something officials wanted to stem.
The incident prompted Karzai to issue a decree, banning Afghan security forces from summoning Nato aerial bombardments during operations. Lotfullah Najafizada, the head of current affairs at TOLOnews television channel, said: "President Karzai apparently believes that the US special forces are more part of the problem than the solution."
Faizi said that security in Maidan Wardak, and nearby Logar province, which also borders Pakistan, has been of particular concern to the Afghan government because of heightened violence and Taliban activity there. The banning of US special forces from Maidan Wardak following steadily mounting unease expressed by the Karzai government over Nato operations. After last week's National Security Council meeting, an order [http://president.gov.af/en/news/17522] was issued for Afghan forces "to impede operations" by parallel militias set up by foreign coalition forces outside the Afghan military chain of command, which have long been a source of irritation to Karzai. Afghan forces were also banned from calling in Nato airstrikes after nine civilians were killed in a single incident.
Maidan Wardak currently hosts mainly US troops. A brigade of 3,000 to 4,000 Afghan soldiers is also deployed in the province, according to Isaf. The palace announcement served as a reminder that the size and nature of western forces remaining in Afghanistan after 2014 are far from agreed. Karzai was reportedly irked but reports from a Nato meeting in Brussels on Friday [http://www.navytimes.com/news/2013/02/ap-german-minister-says-us-to-leave-8k-12k-troops-afghanistan-022213/] , at which a follow-out force of 12,000 was discussed. Leon Panetta, the outgoing US defence secretary was quoted as saying that the mainly American force would be deployed in all areas of the country. Observers in Kabul suggested that Karzai's announcement was intended as a message to Washington not to take Afghan acquiescence in US decisions on bases and unilateral counter-terrorist operations for granted. There have also been tough negotiations between the Washington and Kabul over American demands that serving US soldiers should have immunity under Afghan law.
"This decision is going to complicate the negotiations over bilateral security agreements with the United States," Najafizada said. The Americans want to be able to carry out unilateral counter-terrorist operations after 2014 which can justify their presence domestically in the US, but now it seems to be the hard piece to negotiate, along with immunity."