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Straw rules out inquiry at site of Afghan prison uprising
British foreign secretary Jack Straw on Friday ruled out an inquiry into the deaths of hundreds of captured Taliban at a fortress in northern Afghanistan.
British foreign secretary Jack Straw on Friday ruled out an inquiry into the deaths of hundreds of captured Taliban at a fortress in northern Afghanistan.
“We see no need for an inquiry at the moment,” Straw said. The situation there was absolutely terrible, everybody accepts that there was this slaughter of prisoners.
“But this is not some easy western circumstance. This was in the middle of a terrible situation where law and order had broken down.”
Hundreds of captives - most of them non-Afghan Taliban taken prisoner following the fall of Kunduz - died during a three-day uprising at Qalai Janghi fortress near Mazar-e-Sharif.
Thousands of Northern Alliance fighters and heavy US air strikes were required to quell the uprising, which broke out when the prisoners stormed the armoury and rose up against their alliance captors.
Bureau Report
“We see no need for an inquiry at the moment,” Straw said. The situation there was absolutely terrible, everybody accepts that there was this slaughter of prisoners.
“But this is not some easy western circumstance. This was in the middle of a terrible situation where law and order had broken down.”
Hundreds of captives - most of them non-Afghan Taliban taken prisoner following the fall of Kunduz - died during a three-day uprising at Qalai Janghi fortress near Mazar-e-Sharif.
Thousands of Northern Alliance fighters and heavy US air strikes were required to quell the uprising, which broke out when the prisoners stormed the armoury and rose up against their alliance captors.
Bureau Report