News Detail
Probe divulges ‘Auschwitz-like’ atrocities in U.S.-funded Kabul hospital
KABUL: Alleged human suffering and corruption at U.S.-funded Dawood National Military Hospital in Afghanistan has revealed horrific details of “Auschwitz-like” conditions in 2010 for wounded Afghan soldiers, according to U.S. media reports.
The investigation also revealed that the Army general then in charge of the multimillion Afghan training programs tried to block the probe.
Army Colonel Mark Fassl told Congress that when he requested the inspector general to probe alleged atrocities in the hospital, three-star general in charge William Caldwell admonished him, according a CBS News report.
“His first response to me was ‘how could we make that request with elections coming?’“ Fassl told a House oversight subcommittee.
Two investigations into the hospital abuses are currently underway: one concerns the Military Whistleblower Protection Act, which prohibits interference with a military member’s right to make protected communications to members of Congress, the other is related to Caldwell’s politically-motivated move to delay the probe until after the elections.
Three eyewitness U.S. Army colonels who blew the whistle on the scandal, in statements to Congress, painted disturbing images of the hospital with “open vats of blood draining from soldier’s wounds, feces on the floor, and Afghan doctors and nurses demanding bribes to provide patients with food and basic care,” according to CBS News.
BuzzFeed.com published “extremely graphic” images taken by U.S. military personnel inside the hospital.
“Patients were lying in filth, in some cases starving and with grotesque bed sores. One patient was on the brink of starving to death,” Colonel Gerald Nicholas Carozza was quoted by BuzzFeed.
“The Patients’ Bill of Rights posters were found ripped off the walls lying on the ground torn to pieces ‘to allow for painting of the walls.’” Carozza added.
Col. Schuyler Geller, the former Command Surgeon of the NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan told Congress, “Today, not just in 2010 or 2011, individuals...who perpetrated...unspeakable abuses upon Afghan soldiers, civilians and family members walk the halls of the Dawood Khan hospital unrepentant, unscathed, enriched, and still unprosecuted.”
Highlights
-
Sharif seeks improved relations with Kabul
KABUL: Following his landslide victory in Pakistan’s parliamentary elections, Mian Nawaz Sharif on Sunday promised efforts at improving Islamabad-Kabul relations. In recent weeks, ties between.... READ MORE
-
Taliban free 4 of 8 Turkish engineers
KABUL: The Taliban have freed four of the Turkish engineers they had kidnapped last month in central Logar province, Afghan and Turkish officials said on Sunday. On April 21, the Taliban kidnapp.... READ MORE
-
MPs suggest rethink on Pakistan policy
KABUL: Members of the Meshrano Jirga -- or upper house of the parliament -- on Sunday said the incoming Pakistan government would not help Afghanistan and asked the Karzai administration to revie.... READ MORE
-
Karzai hopes new Pak govt to help fight terror
KABUL: President Hamid Karzai on Sunday telephoned Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) chief Mian Nawaz Sharif and congratulated him his “clear victory” in the elections. Karzai described Sharif.... READ MORE
-
Iranian guards’ fire being probed: Musazai
KABUL: The Foreign Ministry said it was dispatching a delegation to Iran on Sunday to investigate reported casualties among Afghans at the hands of Iranian guards near the shared border. At leas.... READ MORE
-
Balochs vow to resist aggression
KABUL: The Council of Baloch Elders of Afghanistan on Sunday voiced their support for the government in guarding the country's borders against Pakistani intrusions. At a meeting with President H.... READ MORE
-
Hundreds rally against Pakistan, Iran
FARAH CITY: Hundreds of people, mostly former jihadi leaders, on Sunday rallied against Pakistan and Iran, accusing the neighbouring countries of killing and torturing innocent Afghans. Nearly 5.... READ MORE
-
Abducted MDC workers shifted to Tirah
JALALABAD: The eleven employees of a mine-clearing organisation, who were abducted from the Achin district of Nangarhar province, have been taken to Pakistan’s northwestern Tirah Valley, offici.... READ MORE
Clippings
Iran and blame the victim game
Tehran is continuously interfering in Afghanistan and pressurizing Kabul under one pretext or the other. Iran’s meddling into our internal affairs while giving it name of concern as Tehran did it recently when its ambassa...
