Probe launched into NATO Kandahar jail

KANDAHAR CITY (Pajhwok): Appointed by President Hamid Karzai, an investigation team on Sunday arrived from Kabul-run jail at the Kandahar International Airport.

An official at the Governor’s House in Kandahar City, the provincial capital, told Pajhwok Afghan News the delegation included the Military Police General Commander and Bagram Prison in charge Major. Gen. Ghulam Farooq Barakzai, the Review Board member Abdul Shakoor Dadras, Abdul Karim Qanat and Defence Ministry official Anwar Shah.

The high-level team arrived in Kandahar a day after President Karzai ordered its creation and tasked it with investigating the existence of a prison allegedly controlled by foreign troops at the airport. Many prisoners are said to be held at the facility.

Led by Barakzai, the delegates held talks with Kandahar governor Dr. Tooryalai Weesa, his deputy Abdul Qayum Patyal, the provincial High Peace Council head Haji Atta Mohammad Ahmadi and deputy police chief Col. Rahmatullah Atrafi.

Barakzai told the governor their visit to Kandahar was in compliance with the presidential decree and was aimed at investigating about any detention of people by foreign troops at the airport.

He said they would investigate cases of the prisoners to decide on their fate and take legal action for closing the cell. He said they were launching their investigation as of Sunday in order to report back to the president soon.

Governor Weesa promised his administration would extend all possible assistance to the delegation in performing its task.

The deputy police chief said foreign troops often conducted operations on their own and called on the NATO-led troops to inform in advance Afghan forces about their operations.

Though local officials promise assistance to the visiting delegation, yet express their unawareness about the existence of a NATO-run prison at the airport.

The governor’s spokesman Dawa Khan Minapal told Pajhwok the governor’s office had no knowledge about the presence of any foreign troops-controlled prison because no one had complained in this regard.

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