KABUL, 10 August 2004 — The US military said yesterday it would delay announcing the results of a long-awaited review of prisoner abuse in Afghanistan for the third time, saying they would “hopefully” be released by the end of August. The “top-to-bottom” report on prisoner-holding facilities in Afghanistan was launched by the US military in May after revelations of widespread abuse of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan involving American soldiers.
“We have told you many times that it’s coming, coming, coming and I hope I have some credibility here when I say that it’s coming soon,” military spokesman Maj. Scott Nelson told a news conference in Kabul. The release of the potentially damaging report probing prison conditions and allegations of abuse of prisoners in its holding facilities in the war-ravaged country has already been delayed twice by the US military.
Results of the nearly month-long investigation were due to be unveiled in late June and then pushed back to the end of June. “I’m telling you hopefully yes, by the end of this month (August) we will have something for you,” Nelson said. He said that the coalition has completed the study of the report and is working on plans on “how to get that information out” to media.
Meanwhile, the Eurocorps commander Gen. Jean-Louis Py yesterday officially took over the command of NATO-led peacekeeping force in Afghanistan from Canadian commander Gen. Rick Hillier. The Eurocorps comprises military contributions from its five framework nations: Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Spain.
The headquarters, in which soldiers from the member states and also from Austria, Canada, Finland, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Turkey and the United Kingdom participate, is located in Strasbourg, France. Gen. Hillier, commander of the 34 ISAF nations who took the commander of NATO-led ISAF in Feb. 9, officially handed over its command to French Gen. Py. “Let me echo those sentiments today as the baton of the command changes from ISAF 5th to ISAF 6th.
In another development, the government forces have killed six Taleban fighters in southern Afghanistan amid rising violence, a senior official said yesterday. The six were killed in a clash on Sunday in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province, the Taleban’s former main stronghold, the governor of neighboring Uruzgan province said.
On Saturday, government forces arrested five local Taleban commanders in an area of Uruzgan following a tip-off, said Gov. Jan Mohammad Khan. He said government forces suffered no losses. No Taleban official could be reached immediately for comment.
