Afshar Operation: Difference between revisions
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|perps=[[Ustad Abdul Rasul Sayyaf]]'s faction of Mujahideen the, '''Ittihad''' |
|perps=[[Ustad Abdul Rasul Sayyaf]]'s faction of Mujahideen the, '''Ittihad''' |
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|motive=Military attack against a Shi'ite Muslim minority |
|motive=Military attack against a Shi'ite Muslim minority |
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}}Afshar Operation was a military attack by [[ |
}}Afshar Operation was a military attack by [[Ustad Abdul Rasul Sayyaf]]'s forces against the [[Hezbi Islami|Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezbi Islami]] and Wahdat forces. The attack took place in a densely populated district of [[Kabul]], the '''Afshar district'''. Afshar district is situated on the slopes of Mount Afshar in west Kabul. The district is predominantly home to the Shiite [[Tajik]]s also known as the [[Qizilbash]]. The attack became an urban war zone where "repeated human butchery", by [[Ustad Abdul Rasul Sayyaf]]'s faction of Mujahideen the, '''Ittihad'''<ref name="Human Rights Watch">{{cite web |date=2006 |url = http://hrw.org/reports/2005/afghanistan0605/5.htm#_Toc105552365|title = Ittihad|format = HTML |publisher = [[Human Rights Watch]]| accessdate = 2008-04-21 | last= |quote=}}</ref> ,turned on the Shi'ite Muslim minority groups.<ref name="Book_Anderson"/> Reports emerged that Sayyaf's forces rampaged through Afshar, murdering, raping and burning homes.<ref name="bbc_2001">{{cite web |date=Sunday, 2 December, 2001, 17:56 GMT|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/correspondent/1682466.stm|title = A personal account|format = HTML |publisher = [[BBC News]]| accessdate = 2008-04-21 | last= Phil Rees |quote=}}</ref><ref name="hrw">{{cite web |date=2007 |url = http://hrw.org/reports/2005/afghanistan0605/4.htm#_Toc105552354|title = The Battle for Kabul: April 1992-March 1993|format = HTML |publisher = [[Human Rights Watch]]| accessdate = 2008-04-21 | last= |quote=}}</ref> A commission after the fighting was over was able to pay the ransoms of, approximately eighty to two hundred persons [who] were later released, and that ransoms were paid to Ittihad commanders holding them to secure their release, but that approximately 700-750 persons were never returned, and were presumably killed or died in captivity."<ref name="hrw"/> The same commission received information that many women were abducted during the operation, but said that few families would report it. <ref name="Book_Anderson">{{cite book | last = John Lee Anderson | authorlink = John Lee Anderson | title = The Lion's Grave|edition= November 26, 2002|pages= 224 | publisher = Atlantic Books| isbn= 1843541181}}</ref> |
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==Background== |
==Background== |
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The broader backdrop for the Afshar events was recurrent heavy fighting, in and around Kabul, that resulted from attacks on the fragile Rabbani interim government by an alliance of anti-government militias backed by unfriendly neighboring countries. From shortly after the fall of the communist regime in April 1992 until the emergence of the Taliban as a military force in early 1995, all of Afghanistan's militarily significant neighbors -- |
The broader backdrop for the Afshar events was recurrent heavy fighting, in and around Kabul, that resulted from attacks on the fragile Rabbani interim government by an alliance of anti-government militias backed by unfriendly neighboring countries. From shortly after the fall of the communist regime in April 1992 until the emergence of the Taliban as a military force in early 1995, all of Afghanistan's militarily significant neighbors -- Uzbekistan and Pakistan except Iran -- for different reasons, sought to undermine and overthrow the Rabbani government by arming renegade proxy militias. The ringleader of the renegade alliance that resulted was Islamic firebrand Gulbuddin Hekmatyar; Mazari's Hezb i Wahdat and the militia of former communist general Abdul Rasheed Dostum were junior partners. |
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==The Attack== |
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According to a Human Rights Watch report, "credible and consistent" accounts from several officials who worked in Shura-e-Nazar (the informal politico-military organization headed by Rabbani's defense minister, Ahmad Shah Masood) and the Rabbani interim government reveal that a military campaign against Hizb e Wahdat was planned and approved by officials at the "highest levels" of the [[Rabbani]] government. According to HRW, the operation represented not only the largest and most integrated use of military power but also the worst case of human rights voilation undertaken by the Islamic State of Afghanistan, the Rabbani-led government, up to that time. |
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John Jennings, formerly of AP, has been quoted by author Roy Gutman as calling the "Afshar massacre" a "myth." <ref name="Gutman_Book">{{cite book | last = Roy Gutman| authorlink = Roy Gutman| title = How We Missed the Story: Osama Bin Laden, the Taliban and the Hijacking of Afghanistan|edition= January 15, 2008|pages= 304 | publisher = United States Institute of Peace Press| isbn= 1601270240}}</ref> Jennings went into considerable detail to debunk allegations of a massacre of civilians. (He did leave open the possibility that some captured Hazara fighters were summarily executed rather than being treated as POWs, by government troops furious at Wahdat atrocities against Kabul civilians during the preceding months.) Jennings also described Masood's followers rescuing a wounded Hazara woman caught in the crosssfire during the height of the battle. And he recounts entering a nearby basement where Wahdat fighters had tied up non-Hazara hostages with wire, shot them and tried to burn the bodies, before fleeing the scene ahead of Masood's advancing troops.<ref name="Gutman_Book"/> |
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Despite these written reference -- and although Jennings is quoted on other topics in the same HRW report -- any account of what he witnessed during and after the Afshar battle was left out by HRW editors. <ref name="hrw"/> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 02:44, 10 May 2008
| Afshar Operation | |
|---|---|
| Location | Kabul, Afshar District |
| Date | 16 September 1982 |
| Target | Sabra and Shatila refugee camps |
Attack type | Massacre |
| Deaths | 700 to 1000 |
| Perpetrators | Ustad Abdul Rasul Sayyaf's faction of Mujahideen the, Ittihad |
| Motive | Military attack against a Shi'ite Muslim minority |
Afshar Operation was a military attack by Ustad Abdul Rasul Sayyaf's forces against the Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezbi Islami and Wahdat forces. The attack took place in a densely populated district of Kabul, the Afshar district. Afshar district is situated on the slopes of Mount Afshar in west Kabul. The district is predominantly home to the Shiite Tajiks also known as the Qizilbash. The attack became an urban war zone where "repeated human butchery", by Ustad Abdul Rasul Sayyaf's faction of Mujahideen the, Ittihad[1] ,turned on the Shi'ite Muslim minority groups.[2] Reports emerged that Sayyaf's forces rampaged through Afshar, murdering, raping and burning homes.[3][4] A commission after the fighting was over was able to pay the ransoms of, approximately eighty to two hundred persons [who] were later released, and that ransoms were paid to Ittihad commanders holding them to secure their release, but that approximately 700-750 persons were never returned, and were presumably killed or died in captivity."[4] The same commission received information that many women were abducted during the operation, but said that few families would report it. [2]
Background
The broader backdrop for the Afshar events was recurrent heavy fighting, in and around Kabul, that resulted from attacks on the fragile Rabbani interim government by an alliance of anti-government militias backed by unfriendly neighboring countries. From shortly after the fall of the communist regime in April 1992 until the emergence of the Taliban as a military force in early 1995, all of Afghanistan's militarily significant neighbors -- Uzbekistan and Pakistan except Iran -- for different reasons, sought to undermine and overthrow the Rabbani government by arming renegade proxy militias. The ringleader of the renegade alliance that resulted was Islamic firebrand Gulbuddin Hekmatyar; Mazari's Hezb i Wahdat and the militia of former communist general Abdul Rasheed Dostum were junior partners.
References
- ^ "Ittihad" (HTML). Human Rights Watch. 2006. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
- ^ a b John Lee Anderson. The Lion's Grave (November 26, 2002 ed.). Atlantic Books. p. 224. ISBN 1843541181.
- ^ Phil Rees (Sunday, 2 December, 2001, 17:56 GMT). "A personal account" (HTML). BBC News. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b "The Battle for Kabul: April 1992-March 1993" (HTML). Human Rights Watch. 2007. Retrieved 2008-04-21.