Muslimyar sets govt deadline to address Chaparhar raid

KABUL chairman Fazal Hadi Muslimyar on Sunday said he would personally deal with ‘local militias’ if the government did not respond to the Chaparhar district incident in which nine of his relatives were killed and as many others wounded.

On May 28, Afghan Special Forces’ 02 Unit conducted operations in Chini village of Chaparhar district and killed nine and injured eight others relatives of Muslimyar. A child and a woman were among the injured.

Talking to today’s session of the upper house, Muslimyar said his relatives were targeted in an area which was secure and an Afghan National Army (ANA) base also existed there.

About the purpose of the operation and the killing of his relatives, he said: “Our internal enemies and ISI puppets want to misuse our emotions against the government that we support, I have never distinguished between the blood of a soldier and my cousins and I am ready to sacrifice for my dignity.”

He asked the government to address the case and said the victims were Afghan Local Police (ALP) forces who supported the government. They did not deserve to be killed by ‘militias’ under the name of supporting the government.

Muslimyar also asked the Afghan Special Forces 02 Unit to share information about their operation in Chaparhar district with the media.

“Do not force us to stand against those who create militias which are not in the interest of Afghanistan, they should be dissolved,” he said.

He added: “I am not against the government, but we want justice for those who have been martyred, if the government fails to deal with this case in 10 days, we ourselves will raise our voice against militias,” he added.

Few days back, the Meshrano Jirga sought a discussion over the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) between Afghanistan and the United States and said that the US should support Afghanistan against Pakistan’s missile strikes.

Pointing to the BSA discussion issue, Muslimyar said: “This attack occurred on my family. We did not say that we do not need the BSA but we need to talk about it.”

“We should talk about the BSA, when Pakistan assaults our territory and you (foreign forces) say that Iran was involved in Farah province fall, then what is your responsibilities,” he added.

He said Meshrano Jirga members had made a decision regarding the BSA and were following the issue with patient to find out whether it was in the interest of Afghanistan or not.

He added security officials should provide clarification about the increasing conflict in the country, implementation of the BSA with the US and NATO and their commitments to the Meshrano Jirga.

A number of other senators also demanded investigation into the Chaparhar airstrike and a review of the BSA.

mds/ma