KABUL, Afghanistan, July 17 (UPI) -- Allegations regarding the mass killings of hundreds of Taliban prisoners in Afghanistan in 2001 are fabricated and disappointing, an Afghan warlord says.
A July 10 article in The New York Times claims U.S. officials under President George W. Bush were reluctant to pursue claims against Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum for his alleged role in the massacre of "hundreds, perhaps thousands" of Taliban prisoners in 2001 because he was on the CIA payroll.
The Dasht-i-Leili massacre allegedly occurred at the hands of forces led by Dostum who were cooperating with U.S. Special Forces and intelligence officers in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Dostum, writing for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, contests The New York Times piece. He claims the Times was repeating a 2002 feature from Newsweek magazine that was based on false allegations.
He further contests the numbers cited by the Times, saying the totals were more than the number of Taliban prisoners captured by his forces.
"Therefore, the massacre of prisoners of war to the extent that has been claimed is against the principles of intelligence gathering and security," he said.
A counter argument offered by Sam Zarifi, the Asia-Pacific director for Amnesty International, claims Dostum is trying to "head off" any formal investigation into the massacre.
Zarifi notes that if Dostum had no role in the massacre, he should have nothing to fear from an investigation, but says the facts indicate at least "hundreds" of Taliban prisoners died while in custody of Dostum's forces in 2001.
