Czech President Petr Pavel granted pardons on Wednesday to four members of the country’s special forces, who had been facing prosecution for alleged crimes related to the death of a detained Afghan soldier.

The four members of the 601st special operations forces group were to stand trial on charges of extortion, insubordination, violation of guard duty obligations and failure to provide aid, Reuters reported.

Czech media had reported that the accusations related to the death of 19-year-old Wahidullah Khan after he was detained over an attack on troops at the Shindand base in western Afghanistan in 2018.

One Czech soldier was killed in the attack and two others were injured.

“After carefully assessing all the circumstances of this case, the President of the Republic took into account in particular the exceptional nature of the war situation in which the incident under investigation occurred,” Pavel’s office said.

It added that the fact the soldiers were not primarily accused of violent crimes had also been taken into consideration.

The New York Times first reported the incident in 2018. It reported that Khan was beaten after being taken into custody by U.S. and Czech troops, was unconscious when he was returned to Afghan forces the same day and died shortly afterwards.

U.S. and Czech troops were being investigated over the incident, it reported at the time.

The Czech army operated in Afghanistan from 2002 until 2021.

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has strongly condemned a deadly attack on a school bus in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, calling the violence against children and civilians “unjustifiable.”

In a statement shared on X, Islamic Emirate spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid expressed sympathy for the victims and rejected allegations that the attackers had links to Afghanistan.

“Pakistani authorities should not make baseless accusations against Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate does not permit anyone to use Afghan soil to launch attacks on other countries,” he stated, emphasizing that there is no evidence to support such allegations.

The attack on army bus school, which took place in the Khuzdar district of Balochistan, claimed the lives of five people, including three children.

Pakistan’s military and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif swiftly condemned the violence and accused “Indian terror proxies” of involvement, although they did not share any evidence linking the attack to New Delhi.

India rejected Pakistan’s accusations.

Two Israeli embassy staff were killed in a shooting outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, on Wednesday night, and a suspect is in custody, officials said.

A man and a woman were shot and killed in the area of 3rd and F streets in Northwest which is near the museum, an FBI field office and the U.S. attorney’s office. They were a young couple about to be engaged to be married, the Israeli ambassador said, Reuters reported.

Washington Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said a single suspect who was seen pacing outside the museum before the event was in custody. The suspect, tentatively identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez, chanted “Free Palestine, Free Palestine,” in custody, she said.

The suspect had no previous contact with police, she added.

President Donald Trump condemned the shooting. “These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!” he said in a message on Truth Social. “Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also condemned the incident.

Tal Naim Cohen, a spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in Washington, said two of its staff members were shot “at close range” while attending a Jewish event at the museum.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on X:

“We will bring this depraved perpetrator to justice.”

FBI Director Kash Patel said he and his team had been briefed on the shooting.

“While we’re working with (Metropolitan Police Department) to respond and learn more, in the immediate, please pray for the victims and their families,” he wrote on X.

Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, called the shooting “a depraved act of anti-Semitic terrorism.”

“Harming diplomats and the Jewish community is crossing a red line,” Danon said in a post on X. “We are confident that the US authorities will take strong action against those responsible for this criminal act.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro were at the scene of the shooting.