Daily Times

As was published by the BBC on October 31, 2019, Human Rights Watch (HRW), in the new report, has said that the Afghan strike forces, backed by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), have committed abuses “amounting to war crimes.”

The HRW alleged that the Afghan strike forces “committed summary executions and other grave abuses without accountability.”

Such crimes include extra-judicial killings, forced disappearances and attacks on healthcare facilities.

Afghanistan’s government had told the BBC that the situation was unacceptable. Although as per the BBC, the CIA disputed the report and said that its covert operations were carried out in “accordance with the law and under a robust system of oversight.”

As stated by the BBC, both the UN and the New York Times have also previously highlighted allegations of abuses by the Afghan strike teams.

As described by the BBC, two Afghan men from the province of Maidan Wardak spoke to the BBC about the alleged US-backed raids on their home. One man, named Masihurahman, said that he lost 12 members of his family, including his wife, four daughters and three sons, when a “huge bomb” was dropped on his village. He added, “When I returned, I found my house in the rubble.” Another man, Wahidullah, said that troops broke into his house and dragged his family out. He said that they took them to the top of a mountain, where Americans “gave them the order” to carry out killings.

According to the BBC, the HRW report titled, “They have shot many like this: Abusive night raids by CIA-backed Afghan strike forces,” documented 14 individual cases between late 2017 and mid-2019, in which the CIA-backed Afghan strike forces allegedly committed abuses. Forces conducted night raids, in which they dragged people out of their homes without prior warning. Among the allegations are included claims that they targeted medical staff who treated militants in contested or Taliban-controlled areas and summarily executed or “forcibly disappeared” people in custody.

The HRW report also said that the troops “seem(ed) to have unlawfully targeted civilians because of mistaken identity, poor intelligence, or political rivalries in the locality.”

Civilian casualties from these raids have dramatically increased in the past two years. The report added, “The incidences are illustrative of a larger pattern of serious laws-of-war violations–some amounting to war crimes–that extends to all provinces in Afghanistan where these paramilitary forces operate with impunity.”

According to the report, the CIA has run counterterrorism operations separate from the US military since 2001. It continues to recruit, arm, train and deploy paramilitary groups to tackle militants across the country. Since 2017, the US has authorised these groups to call in airstrikes even without the US forces present, which the HRW said has led to more strikes on residential buildings. The HRW has called on the Afghan government to immediately disband all pro-government armed groups and strike forces, fully investigate the allegations, end attacks on medical facilities and provide compensation to civilian victims.

As per the BBC and the HRW, the Afghan paramilitary troops are misusing their power to commit HR violations and war crimes

The BBC and the HRW reported the above-mentioned HR violations, some amounting to atrocities and war crimes, in Afghanistan, which indicated that the Afghan paramilitary troops, recruited and trained by the CIA, were misusing their power and authority to commit HR violations and war crimes, especially in the Pashtun-populated areas.

The main reason for the merciless behaviour of the Afghan paramilitary troops (mostly non-Pashtuns) is that they are intentionally hitting Pashtun habituated civilian areas, due to their persisting hatred with the Pashtuns, on the pretext of targeting the Taliban. Due to this extremist thinking, they are targeting even hospitals, where they suspect that the injured Taliban are being treated.

Regarding extrajudicial killings and disappearances of the civilians, the fear is that the Afghan paramilitary troops are doing this to avenge their Pashtun rivals. Some civilian casualties and property damages might also be occurring because the ill-trained Afghan paramilitary troops have been allowed to call for the airstrikes, and, therefore, many mistakes are bound to happen. Also, while calling airstrikes in the Pashtun areas, it appears that the Afghan paramilitary troops are not worried about civilian casualties.

Given the above discussion, to avoid HR violations and war crimes in Afghanistan in the future, the HRW has rightly suggested that the Afghan Government and the US administration in Afghanistan should disband all pro-government armed groups and strike forces in Afghanistan. Also, to act as a deterrence for the paramilitary troops, it will be better if the allegations of HR violations and war crimes in Afghanistan were investigated and those held responsible were punished.

The writer is a former Research Fellow of Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), Islamabad and Senior Research Fellow of Strategic Vision Institute (SVI), Islamabad