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US Rejects ICC ‘War Crimes’ Probe of Troops in Afghanistan
An International Criminal Court investigation of possible war crimes by U.S. forces in Afghanistan is not “warranted or appropriate,” the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday after prosecutors in The Hague found initial grounds for such a probe. Reuters reported.
According to Reuters, State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said the United States was not a party to the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court in The Hague and had not consented to ICC jurisdiction. She also said Washington had a robust justice system able to deal with such complaints.
“The United States is deeply committed to complying with the law of war,” Trudeau told reporters at a news briefing. “We do not believe that an ICC examination or investigation with respect to actions of U.S. personnel in relation to the situation in Afghanistan is warranted or appropriate.”
Her comments came a day after prosecutors at the International Criminal Court said in a report that there was a “reasonable basis to believe” that U.S. forces had tortured at least 61 prisoners in Afghanistan and another 27 at CIA detention facilities elsewhere in 2003 and 2004.
The United States occupied Afghanistan in 2001 as it went after al Qaeda leaders behind the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. Crimes also may have been committed at U.S. Central Intelligence Agency facilities in Poland, Lithuania and Romania, where some people captured in Afghanistan were taken, prosecutors said.
The U.S. Justice Department between 2009 and 2012 investigated CIA mistreatment of detainees, including a full criminal investigation into two deaths in U.S. custody, but ultimately decided against prosecuting anyone.
Some U.S. military personnel have been prosecuted for murder and other crimes in Afghanistan.
However, the Afghan parliament gives ICC the permission to review all domestic and foreign cases in the territory of the country.
“All of the nation have witnessed the security forces and NATO’s bombings and arbitrary killings,” said Abdul Qader Zazay, representative of Kabul.
“Americans’ records in Afghanistan and Iraq indicate that there is the possibility that these cases are true,” said Jafar Mahdawi, representative of Kabul in parliament.
The ICC was established in 1998 to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity. Trudeau noted the United States has “engaged with the ICC and we’ve supported ICC investigations and prosecution of cases that we believe advance our values in accordance with U.S. law.”
Reuters
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India sends over 63,000 vaccine doses to boost Afghanistan’s public health system
New Delhi has reiterated that it remains committed to supporting the Afghan people through sustained humanitarian and medical assistance.
India has reinforced its support for Afghanistan’s public health sector with the delivery of a new batch of essential vaccines to Kabul.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi has supplied 63,734 doses of influenza and meningitis vaccines to Afghan health authorities as part of its ongoing humanitarian assistance program.
Afghan health officials noted that the vaccines will be integrated into national preventive healthcare efforts and will help curb seasonal illnesses while reducing the risk of meningitis outbreaks, especially during periods of heightened vulnerability.
They said the shipment arrives at a time when Afghanistan’s medical resources remain under significant strain.
India has served as a key health partner to Afghanistan in recent years, providing medical supplies, essential medicines, and several rounds of vaccines to help strengthen the country’s healthcare infrastructure.
New Delhi has reiterated that it remains committed to supporting the Afghan people through sustained humanitarian and medical assistance.
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Deputy interior minister for counter-narcotics travels to Uzbekistan
Abdul Rahman Munir, the Deputy Minister for Counter-Narcotics at the Ministry of Interior, traveled to Uzbekistan this afternoon along with his accompanying delegation.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Interior, the purpose of the trip is to participate in a meeting of member countries of the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Centre for Combating Drugs (CARICC).
The statement added that the meeting will be held on December 5 of this year in the city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
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Imran Khan accuses Army Chief of ‘igniting’ Pakistan–Afghanistan tensions
In his post, written in Urdu, Khan said: “Asim Munir’s policies are disastrous for Pakistan. Because of his policies, terrorism has spiralled out of control, which grieves me deeply.”
Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan has accused Army Chief Asim Munir of deliberately “igniting tensions” with Afghanistan, calling his policies “disastrous” for Pakistan.
The 73-year-old former cricketer, who has been imprisoned since 2023, issued the remarks through his official account on the social media platform X. His statement was shared a day after his sister, Uzma Khan, met him at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail following “special permission” granted by the government led by Shehbaz Sharif.
In his post, written in Urdu, Khan said: “Asim Munir’s policies are disastrous for Pakistan. Because of his policies, terrorism has spiralled out of control, which grieves me deeply.”
He further alleged that the army chief’s actions were motivated by a desire to please Western governments, saying Munir had “deliberately ignited tensions with Afghanistan so he could be seen internationally as a so-called ‘mujahid’.”
The founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf added that he had long opposed “drone attacks and military operations against our own people,” arguing such tactics would only worsen militancy. Khan claimed Munir first “threatened Afghans,” then oversaw the expulsion of refugees and the launching of drone strikes, the consequences of which he said were now visible in rising violence.
Khan also launched a personal attack on the army chief, calling him “mentally unstable” and accusing him of presiding over the “collapse of the Constitution and rule of law in Pakistan.”
He alleged that, on Munir’s orders, he and his wife had been imprisoned on fabricated charges and subjected to “the worst form of psychological torture.”
Khan said he had been held in solitary confinement for four weeks, with no human contact and without basic entitlements provided under the jail manual. He added that despite court directions, access to political colleagues, lawyers and family members had been blocked.
Referring to an incident involving another sister, Noreen Niazi, he said she was “dragged on the road” while trying to meet him.
Khan praised Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi for choosing “resistance over compromise” and urged him to “continue to play on the front foot.” He added that those threatening to impose governor’s rule in the province should “do it today rather than tomorrow and then watch what happens.”
An undeclared ban on meetings with Khan had fuelled speculation about his health. After visiting him, Uzma Khan said he was “perfectly fine” physically but was being subjected to “mental torture” in solitary confinement.
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