In the series of American war crimes in Afghanistan, a war crime was committed by one of the American soldiers in the “Panjwai” district of Kandahar. This huge crime is known as the “Kandahar Massacre”. In this incident, an American sniper named “Robert Beals” killed seventeen non-Afghan people and burned their bodies in a house.
Among the victims were four men, three women, two boys, and seven girls. Nine of the victims were children, and eleven of them were family members. The criminal soldier from the United States Army Headquarters was arrested, convicted of sixteen counts of manslaughter, and subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. He was dishonorably discharged from the US Army.
While officials of the United States government and the US-affiliated ISAF apologized for the killings, the Afghan government at the time demanded a trial for the aggressor soldier. However, the US Department of Defense opposed it. The soldier claimed during his arrest that he did not know why he committed these crimes.
Names and list of victims and wounded
According to the Al Jazeera news agency, the names of the victims are as follows: Muhammad Dawood son of Abdullah, Khudadad son of Muhammad Juma, Nazar Muhammad, Painda, Rubna, Shatrina bint Sultan Muhammad, Zahra bint Abdul Hamid, Nazia bint Dost Muhammad, Masoumeh bint Muhammad Wazir, Faridah bint Muhammad Wazir, Palwasha bint Muhammad Wazir, Ismatullah son of Muhammad Wazir, Faizullah son of Muhammad Wazir, Isa Muhammad son of Muhammad Hossein, and Akhtar Muhammad son of Murad Ali.
The wounded
Haji Mohammad Naeem son of Haji Sokhawat, Mohammad Sidiq son of Mohammad Naeem, Parveen, Rafiullah, Zardaneh, and Zul Hijah.
manner of the crime
Witnesses say that this criminal soldier first killed four members of a family in Alakozai village. They told one of the injured that the soldier had woken up the family before shooting them. Another witness mentioned that the soldier dragged a woman out of the house and repeatedly hit her head to the wall.
In the village of Najiban, eleven members of Abdul Samad’s family were killed, including his wife, four daughters aged two to six, four sons aged eight to twelve, and two other relatives. According to a witness, Beals grabbed the boys’ heads and punched them in the mouth. At least three children were killed by a single bullet to the head each. Subsequently, the bodies of the innocent children were set on fire.
Another civilian, 55-year-old Mohammad Dawood, was killed in a house in another village.
Burning of bodies
The criminal soldier burned the bodies of some victims. Witnesses mentioned that eleven family members were shot in the head and stabbed before being gathered in a room and set on fire. A pile of ashes was found on the floor of one of the victims’ houses, and at least one charred child’s body was discovered. The New York Times reported that the bodies of the children were taken to a military base near the area.
Attack on Kunduz hospital
In a series of war crimes, US forces bombed the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz province on October 3, 2015. In this terrible crime, 42 people were killed and more than 30 people were injured. At the time, Zeid Ra’ad Hussein, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, considered this brutal attack a war crime.
Not only did the Americans bomb the hospital, but they also drove into it with a tank, causing damage to the property, destroying possible evidence, and instilling fear and distress among the Doctors Without Borders team.
The most peculiar aspect of this incident was the United States’ refusal to acknowledge the attack as a war crime. Instead, they termed it a result of human error, claiming the soldiers were not aware that they were attacking a medical facility.
The US forces later stated that the operation was conducted to support forces stationed in the region. Subsequently, the commander of the American forces in Afghanistan, General John Campbell, admitted that the attack was a mistake. President Barack Obama eventually issued an apology on October 7, 2015.
In this brutal attack, many patients and their supporters, including dedicated doctors such as Dr. Ehsan Osmani and Dr. Abdul Sattar, who tirelessly served their oppressed countrymen in extremely challenging and dangerous circumstances, lost their lives.
Attack on the villages of Kunduz province
In November 2017, the American occupying forces targeted the villages of Village Sayed Azim, Ghro Qishlaq, and Sarasiab district under the guardianship of Kunduz. 27 people were killed and injured. The local people and the member of the Kunduz Provincial Council at the time, “Khosh Ahmad Nusrat,” confirmed the identities of 14 victims and 13 wounded individuals. All residents of the region attested to this situation. NATO and its mercenaries, who claimed to have conducted prior inspections, failed to clearly determine their involvement and shifted blame.
Additionally, according to the Kabul newspaper “Visa,” eyewitnesses to the bombing of Kunduz Province reported that American forces committed atrocities in the province. Witnesses saw the deployment of new weapons, with a helicopter targeting three villages from fifty kilometers away. The resulting flames confirmed the attack. The American bombings continued for three nights, resulting in the deaths of 63 civilians. Moreover, whenever individuals from other villages arrived to collect the bodies of the victims, they were met with more violence and casualties.
By admin2
