16-08-2010, 10:16 AM
WikiLeaks US military logs reveal US ‘Death Squad’ in Afghanistan: Task Force 373
Fri, 2010-07-30 16:48 — editor
Daya Gamage – US National Correspondent Asian Tribune
Washington, D.C. 30 July (Asiantribune.com):
Among many classified/secret military data brought in to light by the organization WikiLeaks, other than the civilian killings which amount to war crimes, is the revelation of a ‘death squad’ called the Task Force 373 operating in the Afghanistan war theater which is going about killings with impunity.
A 'black' Special Forces squad led by the U.S. targets Taliban and Al-Qaeda figures in Afghanistan.
The team, Task Force 373, hunts for suspects on a 2,000 strong list to kill or capture, known as Jpel.
The secret-classified military log allegedly reveals the unit has killed innocent men, women and children and Afghan police officers who got in their way.
An entry on June 11 2007 told how a taskforce set out with Afghan Special Forces to capture or kill Taliban commander Qarl Ur-Rahman.
They crept up in the dark but opened fire when a torch was shone on them. A AC-130 gunship was called in for back up and started shooting.
The report said: 7x ANP KIA, 4x WIA - meaning seven Afghan police officers were dead and four wounded. The involvement of TF-373 was never mentioned.
Previously hidden details of US-led unit sent to kill top insurgent targets are revealed for the first time.
This Online Daily Newspaper closely scrutinized the WikiLeaks revelations in its Website and agency reports based on the revelations of those secret/classified logs.
Previously Asian Tribune carried the WikiLeaks revelations of US war crimes or crimes against humanity.
Today, this Online Daily presents the ‘antiques’ of the previously concealed US ‘Death Squad’ called the Task Force 373.
The NATO coalition in Afghanistan has been using an undisclosed "black" unit of Special Forces, Task Force 373, to hunt down targets for death or detention without trial. Details of more than 2,000 senior figures from the Taliban and al-Qaida are held on a "kill or capture" list, known as Jpel, the joint prioritized effects list.
In many cases, the unit has set out to seize a target for internment, but in others it has simply killed them without attempting to capture. The logs reveal that TF 373 has also killed civilian men, women and children and even Afghan police officers who have strayed into its path.
The United Nations' special rapporteur for human rights, Professor Philip Alston, went to Afghanistan in May 2008 to investigate rumors of extrajudicial killings. He warned that international forces were neither transparent nor accountable and that Afghans who attempted to find out who had killed their loved ones "often come away empty-handed, frustrated and bitter".
Now, for the first time, the leaked war logs reveal details of deadly missions by TF 373 and other units hunting down Jpel targets that were previously hidden behind a screen of misinformation. They raise fundamental questions about the legality of the killings and of the long-term imprisonment without trial, and also pragmatically about the impact of a tactic which is inherently likely to kill, injure and alienate the innocent bystanders whose support the coalition craves.
On the night of Monday 11 June 2007, the leaked logs reveal, the taskforce set out with Afghan Special Forces to capture or kill a Taliban commander named Qarl Ur-Rahman in a valley near Jalalabad. As they approached the target in the darkness, somebody shone a torch on them. A firefight developed, and the taskforce called in an AC-130 gunship, which strafed the area with cannon fire: "The original mission was aborted and TF 373 broke contact and returned to base. Follow-up Report: 7 x ANP KIA, 4 x WIA." In plain language: they discovered that the people they had been shooting in the dark were Afghan police officers, seven of whom were now dead and four wounded.
The coalition put out a press release which referred to the firefight and the air support and then failed entirely to record that they had just killed or wounded 11 police officers. But, evidently fearing that the truth might leak, it added: "There was nothing during the firefight to indicate the opposing force was friendly. The individuals who fired on coalition forces were not in uniform." The involvement of TF 373 was not mentioned, and the story didn't get out.
However, the incident immediately rebounded into the fragile links which other elements of the coalition had been trying to build with local communities. An internal report shows that the next day Lieutenant Colonel Gordon Phillips, commander of the Provincial Reconstruction Team, took senior officers to meet the provincial governor, Gul Agha Sherzai, who accepted that this was "an unfortunate incident that occurred among friends". They agreed to pay compensation to the bereaved families, and Phillips "reiterated our support to prevent these types of events from occurring again".
Yet, later that week, on Sunday 17 June, as Sherzai hosted a "shura" council at which he attempted to reassure tribal leaders about the safety of coalition operations, TF 373 launched another mission, hundreds of miles south in Paktika province. The target was a notorious Libyan fighter, Abu Laith al-Libi. The unit was armed with a new weapon, known as Himars – High Mobility Artillery Rocket System – a pod of six missiles on the back of a small truck.
The plan was to launch five rockets at targets in the village of Nangar Khel where TF 373 believed Libi was hiding and then to send in ground troops. The result was that they failed to find Libi but killed six Taliban fighters and then, when they approached the rubble of a madrasa, they found "initial assessment of 7 x NC KIA" which translates as seven non-combatants killed in action. All of them were children. One of them was still alive in the rubble: "The Med TM immediately cleared debris from the mouth and performed CPR." After 20 minutes, the child died.
The coalition made a press statement which owned up to the death of the children and claimed that troops "had surveillance on the compound all day and saw no indications there were children inside the building". That claim is consistent with the leaked log. A press release also claimed that Taliban fighters, who undoubtedly were in the compound, had used the children as a shield.
On 18 June, 2007 the Reuters carried the following report:
(Begin Text) At least seven children were killed in a U.S.-led coalition air strike on a religious school in Afghanistan, the coalition said on Monday, amid rising anger over civilian deaths from foreign military operations.
Up to 60 civilians have been killed in the past three days in the southern Uruzgan province alone, a senior provincial official said.
Some 50 Taliban and Afghan forces were also killed in the battles in Chora district of the rugged province, the head of the provincial council, Mawlavi Hamdullah, told Reuters.
A NATO spokesman in Kabul, Major John Thomas, said he knew that a large number of "insurgents" were killed in the battle in the district but said he was aware of only 11 civilians being wounded.
Earlier on Monday, the U.S.-led coalition force apologized for the deaths of the children at a madrasa in southeastern Paktia province at the weekend but said they had no idea children were present when the premises were attacked.
"We are truly sorry for the innocent lives lost in this attack," said Army Major Chris Belcher, a coalition spokesman, in a statement. "We had surveillance on the compound all day and saw no indications there were children inside the building."
The statement said children who survived Sunday's raid said insurgents had forced pupils to stay inside the madrasa. The White House accused the Taliban of using human shields.
http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2010/07...-force-373
Fri, 2010-07-30 16:48 — editor
Daya Gamage – US National Correspondent Asian Tribune
Washington, D.C. 30 July (Asiantribune.com):
Among many classified/secret military data brought in to light by the organization WikiLeaks, other than the civilian killings which amount to war crimes, is the revelation of a ‘death squad’ called the Task Force 373 operating in the Afghanistan war theater which is going about killings with impunity.
A 'black' Special Forces squad led by the U.S. targets Taliban and Al-Qaeda figures in Afghanistan.
The team, Task Force 373, hunts for suspects on a 2,000 strong list to kill or capture, known as Jpel.
The secret-classified military log allegedly reveals the unit has killed innocent men, women and children and Afghan police officers who got in their way.
An entry on June 11 2007 told how a taskforce set out with Afghan Special Forces to capture or kill Taliban commander Qarl Ur-Rahman.
They crept up in the dark but opened fire when a torch was shone on them. A AC-130 gunship was called in for back up and started shooting.
The report said: 7x ANP KIA, 4x WIA - meaning seven Afghan police officers were dead and four wounded. The involvement of TF-373 was never mentioned.
Previously hidden details of US-led unit sent to kill top insurgent targets are revealed for the first time.
This Online Daily Newspaper closely scrutinized the WikiLeaks revelations in its Website and agency reports based on the revelations of those secret/classified logs.
Previously Asian Tribune carried the WikiLeaks revelations of US war crimes or crimes against humanity.
Today, this Online Daily presents the ‘antiques’ of the previously concealed US ‘Death Squad’ called the Task Force 373.
The NATO coalition in Afghanistan has been using an undisclosed "black" unit of Special Forces, Task Force 373, to hunt down targets for death or detention without trial. Details of more than 2,000 senior figures from the Taliban and al-Qaida are held on a "kill or capture" list, known as Jpel, the joint prioritized effects list.
In many cases, the unit has set out to seize a target for internment, but in others it has simply killed them without attempting to capture. The logs reveal that TF 373 has also killed civilian men, women and children and even Afghan police officers who have strayed into its path.
The United Nations' special rapporteur for human rights, Professor Philip Alston, went to Afghanistan in May 2008 to investigate rumors of extrajudicial killings. He warned that international forces were neither transparent nor accountable and that Afghans who attempted to find out who had killed their loved ones "often come away empty-handed, frustrated and bitter".
Now, for the first time, the leaked war logs reveal details of deadly missions by TF 373 and other units hunting down Jpel targets that were previously hidden behind a screen of misinformation. They raise fundamental questions about the legality of the killings and of the long-term imprisonment without trial, and also pragmatically about the impact of a tactic which is inherently likely to kill, injure and alienate the innocent bystanders whose support the coalition craves.
On the night of Monday 11 June 2007, the leaked logs reveal, the taskforce set out with Afghan Special Forces to capture or kill a Taliban commander named Qarl Ur-Rahman in a valley near Jalalabad. As they approached the target in the darkness, somebody shone a torch on them. A firefight developed, and the taskforce called in an AC-130 gunship, which strafed the area with cannon fire: "The original mission was aborted and TF 373 broke contact and returned to base. Follow-up Report: 7 x ANP KIA, 4 x WIA." In plain language: they discovered that the people they had been shooting in the dark were Afghan police officers, seven of whom were now dead and four wounded.
The coalition put out a press release which referred to the firefight and the air support and then failed entirely to record that they had just killed or wounded 11 police officers. But, evidently fearing that the truth might leak, it added: "There was nothing during the firefight to indicate the opposing force was friendly. The individuals who fired on coalition forces were not in uniform." The involvement of TF 373 was not mentioned, and the story didn't get out.
However, the incident immediately rebounded into the fragile links which other elements of the coalition had been trying to build with local communities. An internal report shows that the next day Lieutenant Colonel Gordon Phillips, commander of the Provincial Reconstruction Team, took senior officers to meet the provincial governor, Gul Agha Sherzai, who accepted that this was "an unfortunate incident that occurred among friends". They agreed to pay compensation to the bereaved families, and Phillips "reiterated our support to prevent these types of events from occurring again".
Yet, later that week, on Sunday 17 June, as Sherzai hosted a "shura" council at which he attempted to reassure tribal leaders about the safety of coalition operations, TF 373 launched another mission, hundreds of miles south in Paktika province. The target was a notorious Libyan fighter, Abu Laith al-Libi. The unit was armed with a new weapon, known as Himars – High Mobility Artillery Rocket System – a pod of six missiles on the back of a small truck.
The plan was to launch five rockets at targets in the village of Nangar Khel where TF 373 believed Libi was hiding and then to send in ground troops. The result was that they failed to find Libi but killed six Taliban fighters and then, when they approached the rubble of a madrasa, they found "initial assessment of 7 x NC KIA" which translates as seven non-combatants killed in action. All of them were children. One of them was still alive in the rubble: "The Med TM immediately cleared debris from the mouth and performed CPR." After 20 minutes, the child died.
The coalition made a press statement which owned up to the death of the children and claimed that troops "had surveillance on the compound all day and saw no indications there were children inside the building". That claim is consistent with the leaked log. A press release also claimed that Taliban fighters, who undoubtedly were in the compound, had used the children as a shield.
On 18 June, 2007 the Reuters carried the following report:
(Begin Text) At least seven children were killed in a U.S.-led coalition air strike on a religious school in Afghanistan, the coalition said on Monday, amid rising anger over civilian deaths from foreign military operations.
Up to 60 civilians have been killed in the past three days in the southern Uruzgan province alone, a senior provincial official said.
Some 50 Taliban and Afghan forces were also killed in the battles in Chora district of the rugged province, the head of the provincial council, Mawlavi Hamdullah, told Reuters.
A NATO spokesman in Kabul, Major John Thomas, said he knew that a large number of "insurgents" were killed in the battle in the district but said he was aware of only 11 civilians being wounded.
Earlier on Monday, the U.S.-led coalition force apologized for the deaths of the children at a madrasa in southeastern Paktia province at the weekend but said they had no idea children were present when the premises were attacked.
"We are truly sorry for the innocent lives lost in this attack," said Army Major Chris Belcher, a coalition spokesman, in a statement. "We had surveillance on the compound all day and saw no indications there were children inside the building."
The statement said children who survived Sunday's raid said insurgents had forced pupils to stay inside the madrasa. The White House accused the Taliban of using human shields.
http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2010/07...-force-373
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx
"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.