Afghanistan: Harrowing crimes Taliban gangs committed on civilian in Kunduz is Shocking !

Afghanistan: Harrowing crimes Taliban gangs committed on civilian in Kunduz on three-days-stay is SHOCKING! HT: Amnesty.

Mass murder, gang rapes and house-to-house searches by Taliban death squads are just some of the harrowing civilian testimonies emerging from Kunduz as Afghan forces today claimed to have regained control of key areas of the northern city, Amnesty International said.

The organization has spoken to numerous people, the majority of them women, who have fled Kunduz since Monday, when the Taliban launched a sudden assault on the city. Women human rights defenders from Kunduz spoke of a “hit list” being used by the Taliban to track down activists and others, and described how fighters had raped and killed numerous civilians.

“The harrowing accounts we’ve received paint a picture of a reign of terror during the Taliban’s brutal capture of Kunduz this week. The multiple credible reports of killings, rapes and other horrors meted out against the city’s residents must prompt the Afghan authorities to do more now to protect civilians, in particular in areas where more fighting appears imminent,” said Horia Mosadiq, Afghanistan Researcher at Amnesty International.

One woman who provides assistance to victims of domestic violence in Kunduz and escaped to safety in a nearby province told Amnesty International that Taliban fighters were using a “hit list” to track down their targets. It allegedly includes the names and photos of activists, journalists and civil servants based in Kunduz.

The woman said the Taliban’s roadblocks on exit routes from the city forced her and numerous other women and men to flee on foot. They trekked for more than seven hours over rough terrain, leaving them exhausted and with bloodied feet.

When the Taliban took control of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) and other government and NGO offices in Kunduz on Monday, they gained access to reams of information about NGO staff, government employees and members of the security forces – including addresses, phone numbers and photos.

Since then, Taliban fighters have allegedly been using young boys to help them to conduct house-to-house searches to locate and abduct their targets, including women.

Another woman human rights defender had her home and office burned and looted by Taliban on Tuesday night. Taliban fighters kept calling her to ask about the whereabouts of the women whom she had been helping.

She and several other women managed to receive assistance for themselves and their children to flee to safety. But she told Amnesty International she and her family escaped with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and were left terrified by the ordeal.

According to local activists, Taliban fighters also raped female relatives and killed family members, including children, of police commanders and soldiers, especially those working for Afghan Local Police (ALP). The Taliban also burnt down the families’ houses and looted their belongings.

The relative of a woman who worked as a midwife in Kunduz maternity hospital told Amnesty International how Taliban fighters gang-raped and then killed her and another midwife because they accused them of providing reproductive health services to women in the city.

The Taliban released all the male prisoners held in Kunduz and gave them arms to fight against government forces. Female prisoners were raped and beaten, then the Taliban abducted some and released others.

An eyewitness told Amnesty International that a civilian woman in his neighbourhood had been shot amid fighting between Taliban and the Afghan security forces. Taliban fighters responded to her screams of pain by entering her house and shooting her point blank in the head, forcing her husband to watch her die. Hmmmm........Obama: If We Work Hard, Afghanistan Could Be a Success...Like Iraq! Read the full story here.

Our boys captured this Taliban trashbag from inside textile factory in western Kunduz city.Trapped there since morng pic.twitter.com/9U8Mqvppbw

— Asif Khan (@Afghan_Security) October 1, 2015

Obama 'Ally' Karzai sees ‘no good’ with US presence in Afghanistan.

Obama 'Ally' Karzai sees ‘no good’ with US presence in Afghanistan.(PressTv).

Afghan President Hamid Karzai says he has seen “no good” with the presence of American forces in his country, prompting further speculations of a breakdown of trust between Kabul and Washington.

“This whole 12 years was one of constant pleading with America to treat the lives of our civilians as lives of people,” Karzai said in an interview with The Sunday Times.

Karzai also said that he has not spoken to US President Barack Obama since June last year, which may show the increasing gulf between Afghanistan and the US.

“We met in South Africa but didn’t speak. Letters have been exchanged,” he said, referring to the funeral ceremony for South African anti-Apartheid leader Nelson Mandela.

The differences between the two sides have grown increasingly since Karzai refused to sign a security pact with Washington that would allow thousands of foreign troops to stay in Afghanistan after 2014.

“The money they should have paid to the police they paid to private security firms and creating militias who caused lawlessness, corruption and highway robbery,” Karzai said.

The Afghan president also went on to say that the US-led forces “then began systematically waging psychological warfare on our people, encouraging our money to go out of our country.”
“What they did was create pockets of wealth and a vast countryside of deprivation and anger,” he said.

“In general, the US-led NATO mission in terms of bringing security has not been successful, particularly in Helmand,” Karzai said.

He also dismissed concerns about the cutting of Western financial aid to Afghanistan over his refusal to sign the security deal.
“Money is not everything,” he said, adding, “If you ask me as an individual, I would rather live in poverty than uncertainty.”

On Wednesday, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel expressed deep frustration with Karzai over the prolongation of the review process for the signing of the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with the US.

The Pentagon chief, however, stated that Karzai is the elected president of a sovereign country, and Washington’s ability to influence his decisions is limited.

Karzai says he will not sign the BSA until certain conditions are met, including a guarantee from Washington that there will be no more raids on Afghan houses. He says the demands come from the country’s highest decision-making body, the Loya Jirga.

In his speech at the Loya Jirga on November 24, 2013, Karzai said, “If US military forces conduct military operations on Afghan homes even one more time, then there will be no BSA and we won’t sign it.”


The US and its allies invaded Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but after more than 12 years, the foreign troops have still not been able to establish security in the country.Hmmm....Obama: If We Work Hard, Afghanistan Could Be a Success...Like Iraq!

NATO chief doesn't see Karzai signing security pact.

NATO chief doesn't see Karzai signing security pact.(Taz).

President Hamid Karzai is unlikely to sign a pact for U.S. and NATO forces to stay in Afghanistan after 2014 and will probably leave the choice for his successor, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Saturday, Reuters reported.

Kabul and Washington spent months negotiating a legal framework for some U.S. troops to stay on after the end of 2014, when NATO-led forces are due to end combat operations, leaving behind a much smaller training and advisory mission.

But Karzai has said he will not sign the agreement unless certain conditions are met.

The delay has frustrated the United States and its allies, who want to plan the post-2014 training and advisory mission.
Both the United States and NATO have said they may be forced to pull their forces out of Afghanistan entirely at the end of this year unless the agreement is signed soon.
Rasmussen acknowledged for the first time on Saturday that he did not expect Karzai to sign the U.S. pact and a similar pact that must be negotiated with other NATO forces.
Instead, he believed Karzai would leave the issue for the president elected in April 5 election.
Karzai has served two terms and cannot run again.
"I think, realistically speaking, a new president will be the one to sign," Rasmussen told reporters during the annual Munich Security Conference.
He said however he was confident that Afghanistan would sign the agreement "at the end of the day" and NATO would still have time to plan its post-2014 mission, even if it was not signed until Karzai's successor was in office.
"Most probably, it will be for a new president to sign a security agreement and in that case we are prepared to stay after 2014," Rasmussen said.

"If we don't get a signature even from a new president, then we will also be prepared to withdraw everything by the end of 2014, because in that case we don't have a legal basis for a continued presence," he said.

The NATO-led force currently has around 57,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, two-thirds of them from the United States. Troop numbers are expected to fall to 8,000-12,000 after 2014.
Rasmussen has said a complete foreign military withdrawal from Afghanistan could also jeopardize foreign military aid needed to finance the 350,000-strong Afghan security forces as well as development aid.
The foreign aid totals about $8 billion a year.Hmmm.....Obama: "If we work hard....Afghanistan can be another success like Iraq, Yup.....Another 'Obamamination'

US troops to stay in Afghanistan until 2024 - security pact

US troops to stay in Afghanistan until 2024 - security pact. (RT).

The US President is to write a letter to the people of Afghanistan recognizing mistakes made during the “war on terror,” 

The US and Afghanistan have finalized the draft of a mutual security pact indicating that US troops could remain in the country until 2024. Afghan politicians will meet in two days to vote on the new agreement.
While the 25-page “Security and Defense Cooperation Agreement Between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan” is still unsigned, the deal displays a willingness of the US to retain their military outposts for many years, potentially until 2024, while continuing to pay support to Afghan security forces.

“The Parties acknowledge that continued US military operations to defeat al-Qaeda and its affiliates may be appropriate and agree to continue their close cooperation and coordination toward that end,” stated the document, which was released for public viewing by NBC News. 

On Monday, Reuters reported that Afghan President Hamid Karzai rejected a provision granting the United States authority to unilaterally carry out military operations within the country, including the search of civilian homes.

The document appears to have adhered to his wishes, stating that: “No detention or arrest shall be carried out by the United States forces. The United States forces shall not search any homes or other real estate properties.”

The US President is to write a letter to the people of Afghanistan recognizing mistakes made during the “war on terror,” according to President Karzai’s spokesperson cited by Reuters on Tuesday.
Later this week, thousands of Afghan political and tribal leaders will congregate to decide whether to allow US troops to remain in the country following the 2014 withdrawal of foreign forges. The five-day long negotiations are to begin on Thursday.  Hmmm......How about ... In addition to this search-and-enter issue, the United States wants American military personnel to be granted immunity from Afghan law during their stay in the country. This request was also opposed by Karzai ?

US-Afghan security pact collapsing after Karzai refusal.

US-Afghan security pact collapsing after Karzai refusal.(RT).

According to a report by Reuters, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has rejected a provision in the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) that would grant the United States authority to unilaterally carry out military operations within the country, including the search of civilian homes.

Since these raids have sometimes resulted in the death of civilians, Karzai has opposed allowing them to continue under a new BSA. One Afghan official with knowledge of the negotiations told Reuters that on this issue, “there is no flexibility.”
For its part, the United States says it wants the ability to raid Afghan homes in order to continue operations targeting Al Qaeda and other anti-government forces.
On Thursday, Afghanistan’s loya jirga – a national gathering of thousands of political and tribal leaders from around the country – is scheduled to convene and debate the terms of the BSA. If the two sides fail to reach an agreement, the United States says it could pull all of its remaining troops out of the country by the end of 2014.

"They want a window left open to go into Afghan homes, but the president does not accept that - not unilaterally and not joint," an Afghan official told Reuters, indicating that even raids operated by both U.S. and Afghan forces in tandem are out of the question.

In addition to this search-and-enter issue, the United States wants American military personnel to be granted immunity from Afghan law during their stay in the country. This request is also opposed by Karzai.
Two years ago in Iraq, the United States similarly required immunity from local law in exchange for its troops to remain and continue assisting local security forces. The Iraqis refused to grant this protection, and the U.S. subsequently removed its troops from the country.
Neither the U.S. embassy nor NATO headquarters in Kabul would comment on the state of negotiations, but one unnamed Western diplomat told Reuters, "It's a very tense time.”
If there’s no agreement between Karzai and the West by Thursday, the Afghan president is expected to address the loya jirga and say he does not support the provision that allows the U.S. to raid Afghan homes. Such a move could endanger the entire agreement.
"If the jirga becomes about that one article then it risks seeing the entire document rejected," the Afghan official said.

U.S. and NATO officials are expected to continue meeting with Karzai, though a resolution to the issue isn’t expected. With the Afghan presidential elections gearing up for next year, the U.S. thinks now is the best time for a new pact to be authorized.

Kerry fails to secure deal - Troop immunity threatens to sink US-Afghan deal.

Kerry fails to secure deal - Troop immunity threatens to sink US-Afghan deal.(ET).

President Hamid Karzai and US Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday that talks on the future of US forces in Afghanistan were stuck on the key issue of US troop immunity.

Kerry extended his stay in Kabul to try to thrash out a long-delayed security pact that would allow between 5,000 and 10,000 US troops to remain in Afghanistan after 2014 to fight al Qaeda remnants and train the national army.
But he said that a major sticking point in efforts to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) was the issue of which country would try any US soldiers deployed in Afghanistan.

“One issue that is outstanding (is) the issue of jurisdiction,” he said, rejecting the widely-used term “immunity” because accused US troops would still stand trial in America.

“We need to say that if the issue cannot be resolved, unfortunately there cannot be a bilateral security agreement.”

Karzai said that a national assembly of tribal elders would be called to discuss whether foreign soldiers could be given immunity from prosecution in Afghanistan, as the issue was “above government authority”.
“After several months of negotiation, and intense talks yesterday and today, we have reached a series of agreements,” Karzai told reporters at a joint press conference in Kabul.

“The BSA has a lot of items, one is about immunity for foreign and US soldiers — we didn’t have a united opinion on this issue.”

A similar US security agreement with Iraq in 2011 collapsed over the issue of troop immunity.
The US pulled its troops out of the country, which is currently suffering its worst sectarian violence since 2008.
But Afghan officials dismiss the possibility that the US may enact the “zero option” of a complete pull-out after its soldiers have fought the Taliban militants since 2001.

Kerry had been due to fly to Paris on Saturday morning, but negotiations ran late into the evening.
A US official said Kerry wanted “to leave Kabul with as many issues resolved as possible”.

The US wants the security deal signed within weeks to enable the NATO military coalition to plan its withdrawal of 87,000 combat troops from Afghanistan by December 2014, but Karzai recently threatened to walk away from talks.

Karzai said on Saturday that progress was made on other major points of dispute, including the US agreeing not to conduct unilateral military operations against militants after 2014.
“There will be no arbitrary actions and operations by the US, and a written document has been given to guarantee the protection of lives and properties of our people,” the president said.

Karzai has had a tempestuous relationship with the US and other foreign allies since he came to power in 2001, often sparking outrage with his criticism of international military efforts to thwart Taliban insurgents.
He is due to stand down for elections in April 2014, and many analysts say he is keen to secure a reputation as a strong nationalist leader.
A credible election to choose Karzai’s successor is seen as the key test of Afghan stability as NATO troops withdraw, and Kerry stressed the US would support a free and fair vote.
Karzai officially suspended BSA talks in June in a furious reaction to the Taliban opening a liaison office in Qatar that was presented as an embassy for a government in waiting.Read the full story here.

Afghan air force 'Flying high' - ‘$37 Million Aviation Facility May Have Been Used to Store Opium.’

Afghan air force 'Flying high' - ‘$37 Million Aviation Facility May Have Been Used to Store Opium.’(Reuters).

"This is a hard deal. We're far from 100-percent guaranteed on delivery," said Air Force Brigadier General John Michel, who leads NATO Air Training Command Afghanistan, which is due to complete its training of the Afghan air force by December 31, 2017 - three years after most U.S. forces leave Afghanistan.

The one-star general cited progress in training and planning for Afghanistan to assume control over the air force but said many factors were outside his control.
Michel spoke to Reuters this week during the annual Air Force Association conference here.

He said the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force was re-examining all infrastructure projects after a report that one $37 million aviation facility may have been used to store opium and other concerns raised by Congress.Read the full story here.

"Yankee just Go Home" - No rush to sign security deal with US, says Afghan president.

Follow the Islamist brick road

"Yankee just Go Home" - No rush to sign security deal with US, says Afghan president.(IIT)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai says his government is in no rush to sign with the United States a security deal that allows Washington to set up permanent military bases in the war-ravaged country beyond the 2014 withdrawal deadline.

President Karzai told a conference in Kabul on Tuesday that the deal could be signed by his successor after next April’s election for a new head of state.
The remarks by the Afghan president have once again dashed American hopes that a pact can be quickly finalized.
In May, President Karzai said his government was ready to let the US set up nine bases across Afghanistan after most foreign troops withdraw in 2014.
However, the Afghan government has recently sought explanation from Washington about the ongoing US-led controversial peace talks with the Taliban militants in Qatar. The Kabul government has also suspended strategic talks with Washington to discuss the nature of US presence after beyond 2014.
President Karzai has announced that his government will not join any US negotiations with the Taliban unless the talks are led by the Afghans.
The Islamic Movement of Afghanistan Party and several other political factions have recently released a statement warning that things will get worse should the US sets up its bases in Afghanistan.
The parties also heaped scorn on the US-led forces for committing unforgivable crimes against Afghan women and children since invading the country in 2001.
Thousands of Afghan civilians, including a large number of women and children, have been killed during night raids by foreign forces and CIA-run assassination drone strikes.
The increasing number of casualties in Afghanistan has caused widespread anger against the US and other NATO member states, undermining public support for the Afghan war.

Civilian casualties have long been a source of friction between the Afghan government and US-led foreign forces, and have dramatically increased anti-US sentiments in Afghanistan. Hmmm.....Thanks for the money, now get the hell out of my country.

Video - Afghanistan's 'Opium Brides'

PBS Frontline: Afghanistan's 'Opium Brides' .The safest place in the world to grow opium is in the Taliban controlled territories of Afghanistan. In areas that are not controlled by the Taliban, the Afghan government is destroying poppy crops. Loans for those crops, however, were provided by drug traffickers (the most successful banking system in Afghanistan). When the government destroys the crops, traffickers demand that the loans be repaid, often by handing over young daughters (the "Opium Brides"). Since the Taliban continues to use the opium trade as a primary source of revenue, while the rest of Afghanistan is attempting to grow far less valuable crops, it isn't difficult to see which side is going to be more powerful in the future. In PBS Frontline's "Opium Brides," Najibullah Quraishi journeys deep into the Afghan countryside to reveal the deadly bargain local farm families have been forced to make with drug smugglers in order to survive. HT: AnsweringMuslims.