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| Districts of Wardak. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
President Hamid Karzai has ordered the Ministry of Defense to
eject all "US Special Forces" from the key eastern province of Wardak
after accusing the American troops or their local Afghan security
partners of committing war crimes. Karzai's order is an ominous
development for future US and NATO plans, which are expected to rely
heavily on special operations forces to take on a greater role as the
bulk of conventional forces are withdrawn from Afghanistan.
"Today, the National Security Council ordered the Ministry of Defense to remove American Special Forces within two weeks from Wardak province," Karzai spokesman Aimal Faizi told reporters, according to TOLONews.
"A recent example in the province is an incident in which nine people were disappeared in an operation by this suspicious force and in a separate incident a student was taken away at night from his home, whose tortured body with throat cut was found two days later under a bridge," he added.
US Forces - Afghanistan, an ISAF subcommand under which some US Special Forces operate, said it was aware of the statement attributed to Karzai and that it is investigating the allegations.
US special operations forces often partner with local Afghan security forces, such as the Afghan Local Police (ALP) at the village level. President Karzai has generally opposed the ALP, and some Afghans fear the local units, currently totaling 19,600 officers and often accused of corruption (as are more traditional Afghan government security forces), will foster a return to warlordism.
Karzai's directive for "US Special Forces" to withdraw from Wardak comes as NATO is working to negotiate and finalize plans for its force structure in Afghanistan after combat forces are withdrawn by the end of 2014. Various draft proposals and statements by US personnel and NATO partners have indicated that a force of 8,000 to 15,500 NATO troops, comprised of up to 9,500 Americans, could remain in Afghanistan. The residual mission is expected to be structured around training Afghan security forces and the continuation of counterterrorism operations targeting high value enemies.
Both tasks rely heavily on US Special Forces (a designation precisely indicating the US Army "Green Berets") as well as the broader category of all US special operations forces.
"Today, the National Security Council ordered the Ministry of Defense to remove American Special Forces within two weeks from Wardak province," Karzai spokesman Aimal Faizi told reporters, according to TOLONews.
"A recent example in the province is an incident in which nine people were disappeared in an operation by this suspicious force and in a separate incident a student was taken away at night from his home, whose tortured body with throat cut was found two days later under a bridge," he added.
US Forces - Afghanistan, an ISAF subcommand under which some US Special Forces operate, said it was aware of the statement attributed to Karzai and that it is investigating the allegations.
US special operations forces often partner with local Afghan security forces, such as the Afghan Local Police (ALP) at the village level. President Karzai has generally opposed the ALP, and some Afghans fear the local units, currently totaling 19,600 officers and often accused of corruption (as are more traditional Afghan government security forces), will foster a return to warlordism.
Karzai's directive for "US Special Forces" to withdraw from Wardak comes as NATO is working to negotiate and finalize plans for its force structure in Afghanistan after combat forces are withdrawn by the end of 2014. Various draft proposals and statements by US personnel and NATO partners have indicated that a force of 8,000 to 15,500 NATO troops, comprised of up to 9,500 Americans, could remain in Afghanistan. The residual mission is expected to be structured around training Afghan security forces and the continuation of counterterrorism operations targeting high value enemies.
Both tasks rely heavily on US Special Forces (a designation precisely indicating the US Army "Green Berets") as well as the broader category of all US special operations forces.
Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/02/afghan_president_ord.php#ixzz2LxBwOxGL
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