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US warns war crime allegations could prevent work with Australia’s SAS
The United States has warned that allegations of war crimes against Australian soldiers in Afghanistan could prevent U.S. forces from working with Australia’s Special Air Service Regiment, Australia’s defense force chief said on Wednesday.
Gen. Angus Campbell told a Senate committee that he received a letter from the U.S. defense attache in Canberra in March 2021 suggesting the elite SAS may have been “tainted” by the allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan raised in an Australian war crime investigation report that was made public in 2000, Associated Press reported.
Campbell said “one individual” had his “posted position adjusted” following the letter.
The letter warned that the Brereton report, which detailed “credible information” that Australian soldiers had unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners and civilians, could trigger a U.S. law that prevents the country’s military working with units linked to gross violations of human rights.
“I received a letter from the defense attache of the United States Armed Forces based in Canberra, to me, indicating that the release of the Brereton report and its findings may initiate Leahy Law considerations,” Campbell said.
Campbell said he did not believe he informed the defense minister at the time and had not informed the current defense minister, Richard Marles.
Campbell was quizzed by senators on why he had not advised successive governments about such a letter from Australia’s most important security treaty partner, AP reported.
Independent Senator Jacqi Lambie asked whether the government should have been advised of such a “pretty big matter.”
Campbell replied: “I think there’s a difference between ‘may’ and ‘does.’ So the defense attache was indicating that it ‘may,’ rather than it ‘does.’”
Campbell later corrected himself, telling the Senate committee that records showed he had informed the previous government’s defense minister in 2021.
The U.S. never applied Leahy Law restrictions to the Australian military and 12 months after the letter marked the “conclusion of the issue,” Campbell said.
Marles’ office confirmed that the current defense minister, whose government came to power in elections in May last year, had not been briefed on the issue.
Marles “is briefed on matters relating to his portfolio as they arise and as is appropriate,” his office said in a statement.
Police in March charged the first Australian veteran for an alleged killing in Afghanistan, three years after the Brereton investigation found that 19 Australian special forces soldiers could face charges for illegal conduct during the conflict.
Former SAS trooper Oliver Schulz, 41, was charged with the war crime of murder in the death of an Afghan who was shot in 2012 in a wheat field in Uruzgan province.
More than 39,000 Australian military personnel served in Afghanistan over 20 years until the 2021 withdrawal.
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Afghanistan says Pakistani military post destroyed near Spin Boldak
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense says a Pakistani military post near Spin Boldak was targeted and destroyed after Pakistani forces opened fire toward Afghanistan.
Ministry spokesperson Enayatullah Khwarazmi said in a post on X that Afghan forces suffered no casualties or damage in the clash.
Khwarazmi also rejected claims made by the Pakistani side about the incident, describing them as “propaganda.”
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Mujahid: Pakistan attacking Afghanistan to evade Mecca Pact responsibilities
He warned that the Islamic Emirate would give an “appropriate response” to what he called the Pakistani military regime’s “bullying.”
Islamic Emirate spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid has accused Pakistan of carrying out attacks on Afghanistan to divert attention from its domestic problems and to evade responsibilities under the “Mecca Pact.”
Speaking at a religious seminary in Kandahar, Mujahid said Pakistan was facing political and economic challenges at home and was using attacks on Afghanistan to shift public attention away from protests and its internal problems.
“Pakistan, by violating the territory of its neighboring Islamic country, wants to divert attention from its failures,” he said.
Mujahid also criticized Pakistan’s political situation, claiming that political space had been restricted and that freedoms guaranteed under the country’s laws were not being allowed.
He said Pakistan’s economic problems had also increased significantly and accused the country of seeking to distract the public from those problems by engaging in conflict with Afghanistan.
Mujahid further accused Pakistan’s military leadership of putting the Pakistani people at risk through what he described as its “false position.”
He warned that the Islamic Emirate would give an “appropriate response” to what he called the Pakistani military regime’s “bullying.”
His remarks followed Pakistani airstrikes on Kandahar, Paktia and Khost provinces on Thursday, which Afghan authorities said killed four civilians.
The strikes came three days after attacks on Kunar and Paktika provinces, in which Afghan authorities said three civilians were killed.
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Kabul rejects U.S. claim that meth seized in Pakistan was of Afghan origin
Balkhi said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has imposed an absolute ban on the production, trafficking and use of all types of narcotics in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi has rejected a U.S. claim that 463 kilograms of synthetic drugs seized in Pakistan were of Afghan origin, calling the attribution “unfounded and politically motivated.”
Balkhi said the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad should investigate the origin of the seized drugs in Pakistan rather than attributing them to Afghanistan.
“The attribution by the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad of the synthetic drugs bound for Sri Lanka and intercepted in Pakistan through joint U.S.-Pakistani efforts as ‘Afghan-origin’ is an unfounded and politically motivated allegation,” Balkhi said.
He said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has imposed an absolute ban on the production, trafficking and use of all types of narcotics in Afghanistan.
Balkhi also claimed that following the ban in Afghanistan, the cultivation, production and trafficking of narcotics have increased “on the other side of the Durand Line.”
He further argued that Afghanistan does not have the capacity to produce synthetic drugs and said crossing points along the Durand Line have been completely closed to all movement for nearly a year.
His remarks came after the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad said U.S. and Pakistani anti-narcotics authorities had seized 463 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine worth an estimated $21 million and bound for Sri Lanka.
The embassy said the operation led to multiple arrests and highlighted ongoing U.S. cooperation and training with Pakistani authorities to disrupt international drug-trafficking networks.
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