US forces accused of ordering torture, murder of civilians

US soldiers stand guard at the Maidan Shar military base in Afghanistan’s Wardak province on January 11, 2011.

An Afghan interpreter for U.S. Special Forces has said the U.S. forces ordered torturing and murdering of Afghan civilians in Afghanistan’s Wardak Province.

Zakeria Kandahari, who was arrested by Afghan authorities over suspicion of torturing and murdering civilians while working for U.S. forces, has denied involvement in the atrocities, saying he was always acting in accordance with orders from U.S. Special Forces.

At least nine Afghan bodies have been found near a former U.S. Special Forces base in Nirkh district in Wardak Province.

One of the bodies, belonging to Sayed Mohammad, a local resident last seen being taken into U.S. custody, was found mutilated and footless in May near the former U.S. base.

Kandahari, who worked for U.S. forces for the past nine years as a translator, linked three U.S. soldiers “Dave, chief of the operations, Hagen and Chris” to the torture and killing of Afghan civilians.

According to Kandahari, the three U.S. soldiers were also fluent in Dari and Pashto, Afghanistan’s two official languages.

According to documents obtained by Reuters, a cell phone video shows Sayed Mohammad being beaten by Kandahari.

“I also kicked him several times while I was taking him to the base. I handed him over to Mr Dave and Mr Hagen, but later I saw his body in a black body bag,” Kandahari told his investigators.

Residents of Wardak Province in Afghanistan have long complained about the secret abduction and torturing of local men by U.S. Special Forces.

Earlier this year, Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered all foreign Special Forces troops to leave Wardak Province after reports showed the occupying forces had been responsible for the disappearance of civilians in Nirkh.