CIA-linked unit accused of atrocities in Afghanistan

Document details 14 deadly raids by pro-government units with support of US intelligence

Emma Graham-Harrison in Kabul
Thu 31 Oct 2019 10.05 GMT
First published on Thu 31 Oct 2019 03.30 GMT

The Afghan soldiers who swept through Kulalgo village one late August night shot three of Dr Ulfatullah’s relatives carefully, a single bullet through their left eye, faces otherwise untouched as blood pooled below their bodies on the floor of the family home.

The last killing was less precise, and left the face of university student Ansarullah badly disfigured. His family thought perhaps he had heard the muffled gunshot that ended a cousin’s life, and briefly tried to struggle against his captors.

The men who killed them were from a pro-government force backed by the CIA and largely unaccountable to Afghan authorities, the family say, one of several which operate across east and south Afghanistan in traditional Taliban strongholds.

In the last two years, as the battle for Afghanistan has intensified and a regional Isis affiliate has joined the civil war, there has been a sharp rise in abusive night-time raids by these forces, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.

Thousands of men strong, the units have been implicated in multiple, serious human rights abuses including summary executions, forcibly disappearing detainees, and attacking medical facilities.

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