WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Afghan security forces, backed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), have committed summary executions and other serious atrocities in Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch said in a report.
These strike forces have unlawfully killed civilians during night raids, forcibly disappeared detainees, and attacked health-care facilities for allegedly treating insurgent fighters, according to the 53-page report, titled 'They've Shot Many Like This': Abusive Night Raids by CIA-Backed Afghan Strike Forces.'
The report documents 14 cases from late 2017 to mid-2019, some of which amount to war crimes, says the report.
Human Rights Watch urged Washington to work with the Afghan government to immediately disband and disarm all paramilitary forces that operate outside the ordinary military chain of command.
It also demanded an independent investigation of all allegations of war crimes and other human rights abuses.
'In ramping up operations against the Taliban, the CIA has enabled abusive Afghan forces to commit atrocities including extra-judicial executions and disappearances,' said Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director and author of the report.
The report is based on interviews with local residents and other witnesses to night raids in nine provinces, as well as with Afghan human rights groups.
Since 2001, the CIA has been actively involved in counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan, which is distinct from the U.S. military operation.
The report cites an incident in Paktia province in August, in which a paramilitary unit killed 11 people, including eight men who were visiting their families for the Eid holidays, without any provocation.
The New York-based human rights watchdog quoted an unnamed diplomat familiar with strike force operations as referring to the abusive raid teams as 'death squads.'
Human Rights Watch said it has investigated an air strike carried out by strike forces in Nangarhar that killed at least 13 civilian members of two families, including children.
The report also accuses strike force units of killing local people who provided food to militants out of fear, and clinical staff in medical facilities accusing them of treating Taliban fighters.
The HRW report follows allegations of abuses by Afghan special forces highlighted by the UN and the New York Times.
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